Pointed Ponderings: R

Writing my way through the A-to-Z blogging challenge, I’ll be using manicules (those pointing finger symbols) to direct your attention to something I’m pondering that delights or interests me. Each entry is somehow related to an unusual, obscure, or simply charming to me word.

R is for…

revivify – to restore to life; give new vigor to. First known use 1675.

This isn’t a particularly obscure word, but I like it for several reasons, including how sparkly it feels as it rolls around my tongue. It’s like I have a tongue-sense of what the word means, and I find that amusing. Additionally, it feels like a perfect word for right now. This clearly is a time in our collective history when we’re all in need of renewal, restoration, renovation, repair; and I think we’re all scrambling to institute new ways of being that are supportive and nurturing rather than just bare maintenance. This applies not just to the moment, but I imagine most of us are thinking about long-term implications of how our world is changing, and what we pro-actively wish to support as we vision the opportunities ahead.

I’m also relishing the fact that Spring is such a perfect example of the art of revivification..

It never fails – every Spring I think about what I wish to plant, what I wish to see bloom, what things I want to water and nuture with devotion, and how I want to be anew in the world.

I like the pragmatic attitude of David W. Orr who says; “The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacekeepers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we define it.”

I’ve never been particularly interested in visioning where I want to be in 5 or 10 years.  But a while ago I was invited to envision what I’d like to see in 100 years.  I was surprised to discover that in knowing what my vision is, how much that made room for me to find ways to uphold those things in my current life.  I should have known that, and I suppose I did – that’s really what the work of discovering and living your values is all about isn’t it?  So many of us do that on a much shorter-term level when we choose (or are chosen by) a guiding word for the new year.  We invoke our energetic address and then see how it unfolds as we hold that energy. 

As I’ve been thinking about my vision, I find myself amazed that a global pandemic could provide a foundatiol for committing to unity consciousness we need to harness if we’re going to make all the essential changes that so clearly need to be made. Admittedly, I don’t think we’ve done a particularly good job of maxismizing the opportunity given us, but I hope we’re shifting enough to make a difference. I’ve also realized that in the past I’ve always been a bit protective of my vision, wanting to defend it from disparaging remarks (or simply thoughts) that it is unrealistic and utopian, but I’m giving that up. This is my vision; this is what my heart wants; this is what I want my presence here to be a contribution towards

I envision a world where:
All beings are operating with conscious connection to Source and embodying their Divinity,


Unity consciousness and celebration of diversity are the foundational principles that are expressed fully as harmony, peace, love, and joy.

There is equitable sharing of resources and unified commitment to caring for the Earth and all its inhabitants.
 
Gratitude, beauty, grace, kindness, and inspired action are everyday currencies and all beings know they are greatly loved and infinitely supported.
      

This is the world I want; this is the world I fervently wish to be part of; this is the world I have a responsibility to create. And I believe it’s important to acknowledge that personally and publicly on a regular basis.

I believe we need to hold ideals to lean into and ground through our living. I think it’s helpful to have a 100-year vision, knowing we won’t be around to see it (at least not in this particular incarnation).  I think that invites us to be more expansive and release some of the self-centeredness that seems to be such a prevalent influence on our collective these days. I think we all need not only to envision a better world, but devote our energies t to creating it.

And while I know this has perhaps been more of a rant than might be expected for a series dedicated to showing you the delights of my world, my vision is, in fact, something that delights me, and it is most definitely a seed I want nurtured in the garden of this world through which I am briefly traveling.

Let me end by sharing this wisdom from Rumi, which always helps restore my hope:

“Humankind is being led along an evolving course,
Through this migration of intelligences,
And though we seem to be sleeping,
There is an inner wakefulness
That directs the dream,
And that will eventually startle us back
To the truth of who we are.”

So let me ask you – what is it you want to establish? What expanded vision do you wish to hold? What practices do you find that help you feel renewed? Please share – you know I love to hear.