As you read these, take 1 minute for each (5 mins total), to feel into it - rather than flicking through online stimulus. Allow each one to be a gateway into what you can give to yourself.
Each of the 5 guidelines are taken directly from the work and words of Joanna Macey, with editors additions following* Haaweatea Bryson
1. COME FROM GRATITUDE
To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe - to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it - is a wonder beyond words. Gratitude for the gift of life is the primary wellspring of all religions, the hallmark of the mystic, the source of all true art. Furthermore, it is a privilege to be alive in this time when we can choose to take part in the self-healing of our world.
* Begin here, with all that you are in this moment.
2. DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK
This is a dark time, filled with suffering and uncertainty. Like living cells in a larger body, it is natural that we feel the trauma of our world. So don't be afraid of the anguish you feel, or the anger or fear, for these responses arise from the depth of your caring and the truth of your interconnectedness with all beings. To suffer with is the literal meaning of compassion.
* Give your feeling a name, acknowledge what you feel. This is an essential part of connection.
3. DARE TO VISION
Out of this darkness a new world can arise, not to be constructed by our minds so much as to emerge from our dreams. Even though we cannot see clearly how it's going to turn out, we are still called to let the future into our imagination. We will never be able to build what we have not first cherished in our hearts..
*You are the unfolding. All that arises each day is also new. We are not on a machine of endless repetitions. We are brilliant, bright beings still testing the parameters of the limitations we set up day to day.
4. ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES
Many people don't get involved in the Great Turning (i.e. the big shift underway in our world) because there are so many issues, which seem to compete with each other. Shall I save the whales or help battered children? The truth is that all aspects of the current crisis reflect the same mistake, setting ourselves apart and using others for our gain. So to heal one aspect helps the others to heal as well. Just find what you love to work on and take joy in that. Never try to do it alone. Link up with others; you'll spark each other's ideas and sustain each other's energy...
* Put yourself into life. Take a step in the direction YOU yourself are drawn. Make it personal because it is then yours to do, and includes feeling your own potential. Meaningful action is never to be underestimated, however small. Don't compare.
5. ACT YOUR AGE
Since every particle in your body goes back to the first flaring forth of time and space, you're really as old as the universe. So when you are lobbying at your congressperson's office... or standing up to protect an old grove of redwoods.. (or doing whatever you do), you are doing that not out of some personal whim, but in the full authority of your 1.5 billion years.
~ Joanna Macey's "Personal guidelines for the Great Turning" The Shambhala Prophecy.
