Collective Care

Music is one of the fastest ways to my soul. I went to see the Coronas on Saturday night with a fab Irishman. We had so much fun. But more than the fun, the music spoke to me. It was a gathering, a connection, a bunch of kindred people hanging out together.

Hundreds of people together singing and dancing. The atmosphere was one of LOVE. Beside us was a group of young girls who embraced us. They hugged us, danced with us and generally allowed us to feel we were 21 again!

This is what we missed during the Corona virus. A chance to connect which is what humans are made for. We are not made to be isolated or alone. I have seen a lot of people who are suffering from some form of PTSD from mild to severe due to all the conditions that were imposed on us during lockdowns. How do we heal from this? We don’t heal alone or in isolation. We heal in community. Music brings us together to help us heal.

Our brothers and sisters in China are suffering due to extended lockdowns. For what? For a supposed zero Covid policy. You’ve got to be kidding me. What are we doing as humanity to help our brothers and sisters? The inhumanity of the world at times really, really makes me feel hopeless. Whether that’s the plight of women in Iran, or China, or many things you could insert here, it’s all suffering.?Suffering evokes compassion in us and for others. Rumi said ?“Don't turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That's where the light enters you.” So everytime I feel like turning away, I lean in. What can I do as one human being on this earth? I can speak up for more vulnerable people. I can contribute my services. When I contribute it takes me out of my own pain. I can put my own oxygen mask first, I can see what this wound is highlighting in me that needs to be tended to, softly healed through turning in to what needs to be seen in this moment. ?Where is my body contracted? Where can I unfurl a little? Where can I send that love that I feel through connecting with my own body into the world to be received?

I have been on a high since the gig. It’s made me more determined than ever to live my purpose. Going to an experience like this makes me feel so alive. Makes me ask questions like:

·????????Where else can I feel this alive in my life?

·????????Where can I be of service to others?

·????????How can I stay connected to what’s happening in the world and not be overwhelmed by it?

·????????How can I learn from others and contribute to others also?

·????????How can I experience joy more and share that feeling with others?

·????????Where can you try to stay open and curious, not needing to be right, but having a childlike exploration lens?

The Buddhists say: open heart, strong back. To me this means, keep your heart open, even when it’s breaking, stay open to the world. ?And don’t forget to set your boundaries with your strong back which upholds you in tough times.

Is anyone else feeling a dismantling of all they thought to be true?

?I believe we are moving into a new era of leadership – one of ‘collective care’. We cannot beat climate change alone, or any other adaptive, complex challenge that’s emerging. ?I was sharing this concept with a client recently, and she ran with it. I’m so happy to see what she has done with this, she took it to the next level and asked her Exec team ‘how can we stand together?’ and as a result they have committed to a different way of working together. All from a conversation. Conversations are critical at this time. True dialogue means we stay in relationship with each other while we work through a problem. We don’t turn our back on others because they disagree with us. We listen to understand. We honour their choices. We give everyone a chance to be heard. We have not been through something like this before. It is incumbent upon us to get in touch with our own wisdom, to think of the collective in all that we do and to care for each other in a new way. Softness, kindness, love, respect, honouring each other’s choices.

Allow me to me share a quote with you written by the French philosopher?Blaise Pascal. A sentiment often shared with me by one of my close friends Donal, over the years. So learn how to sit with yourself, your pain, your sadness, your joy, your aloneness, your fear. This is spiritual evolution and revolution and needed more than ever now.

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone”

I work with so many brilliant people, some of whom have given up their deeply held dreams to fit in to this society. Isn’t it time to build a new one, together?

See below to get a taste of the Coronas. Danny O’Reilly’s ability to move a crowd is something else. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdgzD_05NTQ