Times Have NEVER Been So Certain

 By: Michelle S. Fondin 

When I was in 5th grade, I feared the world was ending.

From 1980-1984, talks of nuclear war and World War III dominated the news, and on top of it, we were at the height of the AIDS crisis. My young friends and I would ask why the Russians hated us so much as we practiced drills to cover for a nuclear attack by hiding under our classroom desks (as if that would have helped).

     Furthermore, the conspiracy theories of the time included Nostradamus’ predictions of the end times as well as the possibility that George Orwell’s Big Brother of 1984 was really about the Russians overtaking the United States. It was a time when fear ruled as the unknown of our very existence depended on the two men in charge: the U.S. and Russian presidents. It hardly seemed fair. Not only were we taught in sex education that we were undoubtedly going to die from AIDS if we had sex (a disappointing reality for pubescent teens), but we also weren’t even sure to make it past 1984. So we figured we might as well have sex since we were probably going to die anyway.

     The threat felt real. And since the adults in my life were just as uncertain as I was, life felt gloomy.

Let’s fast forward to 2024. Many people fear the times we’re living in.

Political unrest, war, and the unknown of AI are causing us turmoil and uncertainty that some fear may lead to the world’s ending. Does that sound familiar?

     Most people feel they’re bystanders with little power over how things turn out on the world stage. I would say they have more power than they believe.

     As I watched certain events unfold after a specific, recent political event in the United States, I felt a helplessness I’ve rarely felt. But then it dawned on me: It doesn’t matter. The world and its events will unfold as they always have, and things will pretty much remain the same, whether we like it or not.

     A song by a 1980s musical group, The Talking Heads, played in my mind, “Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, SAME-AS-IT-EVER-WAS!” The title of the song is “Once In a Lifetime.” After doing research on the meaning, I stumbled upon a quote from singer-songwriter David Byrne from an NPR interview. Byrne said: "We're largely unconscious. You know, we operate half awake or on autopilot and end up, whatever, with a house and family and job and everything else, and we haven't really stopped to ask ourselves, 'How did I get here?” (Source: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/talking-heads/once-in-a-lifetime. Date accessed: June 30, 2024)

     How did we get here? It seems that the world events that kept us in fear in 1984, 2001, or 2020, or at any time in recorded history were the worst ever, and yet, here we are, living relatively normal lives.

What concerns me more is living unconsciously.

We are brought up to believe that the problem is somewhere out there and that it’s someone else’s fault. And if the right person or people don’t get into power to fix things, we’re all doomed. So, we take sides and get angry at our neighbors, colleagues, friends, and family. We raise our fists to the people on social media, the mainstream media, the politicians, and large corporations. In doing this, we falsely believe that there is surely someone to blame for this mess.

And yet, things stay pretty much the same.

Why? Why do things remain the same?

     Things remain the same because everything that happens “out there” is a result of people who think, act, and behave “in here.”

     The collective unconscious is comprised of individuals. These individuals are like you and me. In fact, they are you and me. They have the same fundamental human needs, dreams, and desires.

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer used to quote an ancient Native American proverb: “No tree would be so foolish as to encourage its branches to fight against each other. If so, the tree would certainly die.”

 

We are branches of the same tree: humanity. 

And yet we argue and fight about political correctness, race, cultural propriety, color, and gender. We hate those who are rich if we’re poor. We hate corporations even though we need them. We want to shut the borders or open them and despise those who hold opposite views.

     Things remain the same because social evolution takes a long time. And because humans will always default back to what feels comfortable.

So let’s discuss what is less comfortable.

You and me, and how our thoughts, feelings, words, behaviors, and actions impact the collective.

•  Can you remain cool, calm, and collected in the face of adversity?
•  Are you able to stop the division and think of unity?
•  Are you able to spend one day without any thoughts of anger, anxiety, blame, shame, guilt, or hatred toward anyone or anything else?
•  When someone who has opposing views to yours, can you love them unconditionally?

     As I mentioned, the collective is made up of individuals. And the individual starts with you. Every thought you have of division creates more division. Whenever you want to make someone wrong so you can be right, you generate more animosity. Each time you talk poorly about someone else, you spread intolerance in this world.

     The reason I have entitled this blog “Times Have NEVER Been So Certain” is twofold. First, moving backward to the 1980s, you can see today that the world has not ended, not everyone died from AIDS, and that when push came to shove, the two men with the power to push the buttons withheld that power play. Historically, we have these flareups, people get hysterical, and things return to the same way as they ever were with minor changes that inch us forward at a snail's pace.

     Second, people are more spiritually awake in 2024, which gives me hope for our time. The fact that you would even be interested in a blog asking you to examine your behavior serves this point.

     We are more awake. Thirty years ago, I had never heard people discuss boundaries, inner child work, or self-love. Tarot and astrologers were considered taboo. New Age thought remained on the fringes and was reserved for hippies and those who did drugs.

     I am hopeful that you and I can turn away from mainstream news, social media verbal combat, and debate-style chatter and turn toward a more conscious way of being on a minute-to-minute basis because that is what it will take to change the collective more rapidly.

     In these uncertain times, remember that times have always been uncertain. The certainty of the times is that little will change unless you change.

     If each person can remember in every instant that we are one tree, little by little, every part of it will stop fighting.

So, what can you do today?

Do you have the strength to stop the division?

Can you remain calm in the storm of outer chaos?

If you’re at a loss, here are some suggestions:

•  Stop watching or reading the news. (Brilliant, I know. :) )
•  When a friend, colleague, or family member starts talking about current events or politics, gently change the subject to cats or nature or compliment them on their appearance.
•  Actively enjoy time with family who have opposing views to yours by engaging them in something they’re passionate about, like a hobby that has nothing to do with what’s happening with the world at large.
•  If you’re really feeling enlightened, listen, with non-judgment, to a person with polar opposite views to yours while keeping a totally open mind and without comment. Active listening is essential here.
•  Show a friend that the world is doing just fine by taking them to hike in a park and observe nature. Most people get caught up in rhetoric because they live in the virtual world of electronic devices.
•  Take yourself outdoors and in nature when you find that you’re back in a divisive and argumentative state. Observe how the beauty of nature works together.
•  Spend a day silently saying “I love you.” To everyone you come across and feel it in your heat. Or look them in the eyes and silently bid them, Namasté, which means, “I honor the light in you that is the same as the light in me and I know we are one.”

Namasté.

Love,

Michelle