As I set myself up to writing this post, I began thinking about butterflies. I had wanted to learn how to make origami butterflies for a while now, but hadn't gotten to it, even though I already had the tiny pieces of pretty giftwrap paper in my drawer for several weeks! Finally, after the digital Labor Day celebrations I wanted to keep my happy spirits up and decided to take a morning to learn a delightful new craft! So, the tiny African animal pattern origamis came to be and they are putting a smile to a tiny girl's face as well as us thirty-year-olds ;)
And what is so beautiful about butterflies, is that even through their struggles, they come out as the most amazing creatures we know. Imagine, just when the catepillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly! You can also become the change! And someone encouraged others by saying: don't be afraid, change is beautiful. But I pushed it even further, knowing that what ever you say in your mind or think aloud affects how you act in your future. That is why I chose to think of the metaphore in a way that's even more empowering: Embrace the Beauty of CHANGE. And that earned it's way to the top, on the title.
Transformative change rarely happens without a catalyst and a crisis. A crucible. A time of profound trial at the end of which something new and much better emerges. The term comes from the vessel used by medieval alchemists that withstood extreme heat to turn base metals into gold.
In modern times, “crucible” has taken on a metaphorical meaning: an event, moment or experience that transforms us. The alchemy that takes place is a journey toward a psychological and spiritual — as opposed to physical — transformation.
We find ourselves in a crucible now. The severe trials of the pandemic have revealed fundamental weaknesses in our society — many of which we knew about but were content to ignore. In a world where real change is hard to come by, the pandemic has, in effect, forced our hand: we have an opportunity to change because we have to, to emerge into a world that is not merely new, but better, fairer and more compassionate than the one we leave behind.
Because there is no going back. The pandemic has made it all too clear that we cannot continue to live and work the way we have — breathlessly and always on. And now a time of profound loss — lost lives of loved ones, spouses or co-workers being laid off and the ongoing uncertainty about the future — has exacerbated the global mental health crisis we are already facing.
And even losses that may seem trivial on the surface compared to matters of life and death — weddings, graduations, travel and vacations — even a dear friend of mine confessed how she feels sad, that her own parents cannot hold her newborn baby at this time, so there will be no pictures of them together either for the time being. In the midst of her own change, that seems huge to me.
But this crucible is also a time to reimagine a world better than the one we’re leaving behind. The 5th-century-B.C. section of the Hindu epic Mahabharata chronicles three different kinds of life:
- a life of inertia and dullness with no goals and achievement;
- a frenetic life full of busyness and desire;
- and a life of goodness, which is not just about ourselves but about others.
It’s that second life that much of our modern lives seems to be based on, but the pandemic has shown us the emptiness of this approach to living. To thrive, we need to combine it with the third kind of life. Similarly, the Taoist tradition of yin-yang sums up exactly what we’ve lost in modern life: yang is going out into the world, achieving, conquering; yin is coming back to ourselves to refuel.
So, it is old wisdoms and traditions that can help us make the changes we have been talking about needing to make for a while now. Building the habits we need to carry us into a better world is not easy. But according to the brilliant British behavioural expert, Marisa Peer:
The most powerful potential on the planet comes from your mind. Because you physically react to your thoughts and immediately have an emotional response. And you have the power to change your thinking, which will in turn change your entire life. For instance, now most of us are saying "I'm stuck at home", but rather change it to "I'M SAFE AT HOME". When you change even one little word, it changes everything. I mean Nelson Mandela spent 27 YEARS in solitary confinement, and some are saying they cannot even do three weeks of lockdown. And you know how he did it? He said: "Everyone in my country is in prison, I'm just in a different kind of prison to them. If they can do it, I can do it! And I'm gonna come out here as the leader of my country." And HE DID.
We generally have the belief that an event has an affect on us, but it actually does not. It is the MEANING you attach to the event that affects you. The interpretations you choose upon an event is what affects you, because we are all reacting differently. And that is perfectly alright. I just hope to be able to encourage you to try to EMBRACE the universal as well as your own personal CHANGE.
So when facing struggles, try to trick your mind into thinking and believing better things. To get to the bottom of your beliefs, these life questions might be useful to go through, and you could of course to use a KARMA bullet journal in the process <3
- What is your premise in this area? (your beliefs, good and bad)
- What is your vision for this area?
- What is your purpose in this area?
- What is your strategy for accomplishing your purpose?
Just know that the world changes, life changes, you change. And in the end, the great, tough thing you are experiencing will eventually fade away and be forgotten. At least we know for certain, that this too shall pass...
Just stay safe, stay home and take care of YOU FIRST! But I would warm-heartedly like to inspire you to see if you can help someone else at the same time. Like fostering a rescue dog or two! There was a call for Capetonians to foster dogs during Covid-19 lockdown, and so I decided to give TLC to dogs in need of a home. And actually, during the change of my personal travel plans to go back home, I think they have given me more of that TLC than I could possibly know. 💖
xoxo,
Kiti
