I was triggered by the use of the word “change” that I read in a Christmas letter yesterday. I found the trigger interesting so I took that into meditation. I wanted to explore why I was emotionally triggered by the word when the intent of the Christmas letter was to invite loving discussions among friends and family who have different opinions.
If memory is serving me correctly, “change” was the reason that our current President was elected and now is the reason many give for voting for the current President-elect. So what if the common desire among all of us with different political views is that we want change, but we just have different ideas about how to accomplish that change? And what if we sat down and focused on our common goals instead of the various opposing solutions that none of us really know will work.
My key focus in life these days is on spirituality. I have identified my purpose in life is to bring as much heaven into this earthly plane as I can and to help others do the same. For me, that means finding ways to feel love, peace, and joy as often and as much as I can, while still facing third dimensional issues of learning how to be successful as I “follow my bliss”, making healthy choices in eating when habits entice otherwise (particularly during holiday season), and dealing with discussions of politics without feeling fear or anger.
As part of my spiritual focus, I have joined others in exploring the concept of “transformation.” I have been part of the nonprofit organization, A Community of Transformation, in Annapolis, since its founder and a good friend of mine, Linda Roebuck, first shared the inspiration for it. I have participated in various events for “transformational authors” ever since another friend and mentor, Christine Kloser, acted on her inspiration to use that term for a program to provide training and assistance to authors who know they have an important message to share with the world.
So what if we are all looking for transformation instead of change? Let’s look at the definitions of both.
To “transform” means, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, “to change in composition or structure.” To “change” is “to become different”. A synonym for change is alter. To “alter” is “to make different without changing into something else.” I think that nuance gives us a clue to the difference between “transform” and “change.” Transformation requires a change in composition or structure. Transformation is change that can result in something that feels brand new.
We have been experiencing “change” In the United States for years. Let’s change to a Republican President. No, that did not work. Let’s change to a Democrat. No, that did not work, let’s change back. Is this going to work? None of us knows. Similar shifts have been occurring in countries around the world.
What if we stepped back from the ongoing debates and looked at our common goals and desires? What if we looked at creative solutions that would lead to a transformation beyond our wildest dreams? What if we opened to love and respect for each other? That would be transformational would it not? All major religions, including Islam and Christianity, have the love of God as their foundation. Could we extend that love to each other?
In sacred geometry, a spiritual study that has given me great insights on transformation, the triangle holds great meaning. It is a symbol for the trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is a symbol for the holistic health practice of joining mind, body, and spirit. It is also a symbol that shows how thesis and its opposite, “antithesis”, can be transformed into “synthesis”.
What if we join together and instead of being in opposite camps of “thesis” and “antithesis” we choose to be in the transformational process together of synthesis. That is what leads to paradigm shifts that bring in creative solutions that no one in either camp may yet have thought of. It takes joining together, though, and love is the key that opens that door. Several of my spiritual mentors have been communicating messages recently about how important love, true unconditional love, is in these times. It is so basic, yet so elusive to even the most spiritual of us.
In closing, I want to note that as I was writing this blog, my phone, completely on its own (I had not pressed a button or started any music myself) started playing a song by another friend, Bob Sima, a singer songwriter whose songs can transform you just by listening to them. When a synchronicity occurs in my life, like my phone just starting to play music, I take note and see what message is trying to get through to me. The song playing was “Say Grace” on the album A Thousand Cups of Tea. According to Bob, the song was inspired by the Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart. Some of the lyrics that caught my attention were “Everything in front of me is heaven everywhere and every place. Every pleasure, every pain, every joy, and every heartache. … Everything in front of me is a miracle. Every line on every face, every hand shake, every embrace. Every worry, every doubt, up and down, and every mistake. … Every road in front of me leads to home. … I say thank you. And I say grace.” Looking at life that way would be transformative would it not?
So, I invite you to look at whatever is in front of you – your family, your neighbors, your fellow citizens, the TV – and see heaven instead of any other label you might give. See an opportunity for love, peace, and joy. See an opportunity for joining together to find solutions for common goals. Say thank you for this life in which we can transform whatever we feel needs to change. Together. United. As one.
In love and light,
Lilia Shoshanna Rae
Author of The Art of Listening to Angels
Reiki Master and Creator of the Stellar Healing Modality
Teacher of the Enneagram and other sacred mystery studies
Find out more at: LiliaShoshannaRae.com