“When nothing is certain, everything is possible.”
Mandy Hale
The year of 2020 is an eventful one to say the least. The intensity, the chaos, the bizarre changes in the society, which at times feels surreal, resembling an apocalyptic movie more than the reality. According to many ancient texts, however, there is a bigger picture at play, something that has been gaining its momentum since 2012, namely the end of one age and the beginning of another. Everyone remembers the “end of the world” prediction connected to Mayan calendar, apparently it was not supposed to be taken literally, and meant the end of the world as we know it.
There is no doubt that this year has been a wild ride for the collective. The themes of fear, division and uncertainty have dominated headlines and headspaces all over the globe, and for many it continues, hence why I decided to write the second part of my article “Staying sane during the global turbulence” published in March. Since then it increasingly feels like many issues that were for a long time swept under the carpet , both individually and collectively, are coming to the surface to be dealt with. We are being triggered left and right, and are forced to acknowledge, to heal, to integrate, to let go of that which no longer serves us. To shed the old and welcome the new. Those who are into self-development and healing are well aware of this process, and having done certain amount of inner work, are somehow better prepared to handle current climate. For others, it is a whole new territory and things can be terrifying. While I believe there to be a bigger picture and this chaos, albeit challenging being part of the transformational process for the planet and its inhabitants , I acknowledge the current need for extra support when it comes to mental and physical health. So let’s explore couple of additional tools to help us ride these waves.
“The path isn't a straight line; it's a spiral. You continually come back to things you thought you understood and see deeper truths.” Barry H Gillespie
I was planning to write this article for some time now, since anxiety is a worldwide problem that affects a lot of people. My initial idea was to just share some tools aka coping mechanisms, that helped me in the past. This was my plan until recently, and while I will still execute it , in the light of recent events I feel it’s my duty to add something equally important.
Another day I witnessed something in myself , something that went unnoticed countless times before. A process that is as damaging as it is elusive. But since I learned about its existence, my radar was up. And as I caught this phenomenon in action - I was able to stop it in its tracks, not allowing it to gain any substantial air time and preventing the damage from being done. Ladies and gentlemen, please meet the inner critic - part of our psyche that is always up for not so constructive criticism. Unfortunately, it usually appears when we need it the least - namely when we feel somehow weakened already, and could do with some support and compassion instead. This aspect of ourselves is the inner voice that will say something like "what were you thinking?” , "it’s your own fault", "you’re so useless “ and so on and so forth. While it’s certainly counterproductive that it would get activated while we are in some sort of a crisis , it also makes perfect sense given the fact that most of us grew up being punished for multiple "errors" on our part. Self - punishment then becomes a program that we switch on when things don’t go as planned.
If someone asked me my beauty secrets, which is something people often want to know–I honestly wouldn’t know what to say. Not because I am not looking after my physical body, but because beauty to me goes so much deeper than that, and I doubt it can be enhanced via so called “secrets;” not in any meaningful way anyway. While I am fully aware that this opinion of mine is unpopular–I wholeheartedly believe that true beauty comes from within, and is the result of inner harmony and balance. Yes, of course there are physical/aesthetic attributes to it that indeed can be improved, or even changed dramatically, but to me if something is artificial–it’s not beautiful. Everything is energy, and we cannot fake it, not with makeup, not with filters, not with the latest Kardashian trick of the trade.
