Musings from Quarantine: The Ripple Effect

Everything in life has a ripple effect. Everything we think. Everything we say. Everything we do. It all matters. We are all connected. We often don’t consider what we think, say and do matters. We get so caught up in our own worlds. Our own bubbles. Our own worries and fears. Our own joys. Our own successes. We forget that there is a bigger world out there. That everything matters. That such is our interconnectedness that we are actually just one consciousness. We all come from the same loving energy source. We will all return to the same loving energy source. We are after all energy beings, and physics has proved that energy cannot be created nor destroyed. It only changes form. 

When I think about things like that I realise that all the petty worries we consume our minds with throughout the day don't matter. Not really. Not in the grand scheme of things. 

In the moment though, those worries really seem to matter. Especially when we have this incessant chatter going on inside our heads that won’t keep quiet. The voice that tells us we are not good enough. The voice that tells us we aren’t doing enough. Not showing up enough. The voice that keeps us up at night worrying. That voice that is telling us we are on the brink of disaster; especially right now during this time when so much is going on that is well beyond our control. 

Always that voice in the background. That noise.

I’ve started paying closer attention to this voice during period of down time. It’s been a great opportunity to tap into it. The experience has been both exhausting and liberating. The voice inside my head never keeps quiet. Like ever. Unless I meditate and slow down my thoughts until there is nothing there. Just me. And my breath. In and out. Just being. And being aware of being. 

Slowing down during this time of social isolation is an incredible opportunity to really understand that everything we think and believe to be true is only our perception of reality. And that’s it. Our perception. It’s not necessarily anyone else’s. Therefore, what we perceive to be true, is not necessarily real or true. Which means if we change that perception, only slightly, how we perceive the world has the potential to be very different. It has the potential to be brighter. More connected. More hopeful. More loving. 

I’ve actually not being watching the news lately. I feel nauseous and anxious when I do. Other times I feel downright tearful. There is a lot of suffering going on. But worrying, crying, feeling anxious. That doesn’t help anybody. It certainly doesn’t help anyone I’m worrying, crying and feeling anxious for. 

I can’t help but feel the competitiveness between countries is the same competitiveness that takes place between neighbours, families and friends. The only difference is it’s on a bigger scale and therefore has a much bigger global impact. Or certainly a faster global impact, since how we got here started from a single thought which gained momentum over time. Yet another example of the ripple effect. 

This behaviour comes from a place of lack. A place of fear. Or maybe I should say from a perception of lack. A perception of fear. Because really there is no lack in the world. It really is all quite simple. If we just slowed down, quietened the mind we’d see that. 

There are a lot of small acts of kindness taking place every day. Between neighbours, friends and communities. A lot of them are going unreported. I used to be a journalist for a long time and negative news sells. People love negative news. Why is that? Why is it we take greater pleasure in doom and gloom, rather than in hope and joy? Why are we so fearful that we have to compete for resources rather than coming together? Even stockpiling food. I don't understand it. There is plenty of food. We aren’t going to run out. If we all came together and worked together these things wouldn’t be happening. People wouldn’t be going hungry. 

I have never fully understood third world debt and people going hungry. Not when there is so much abundance in the world. I’m not an economist. I don’t particularly know anything about politics either. But I do remember when I used to read the Financial Times and take a huge interest in global politics that it felt no different to schoolyard bullying. Half the time I felt like the world was on the verge of another World War and the rest of the time it was about this power throwing its weight over that power and who had offended whom and so on. It was no different. Had we not grown up? These people are our leaders and yet how they’re behaving instils fear; not hope, joy and love. People who do instil hope, joy and love get laughed at. 

When spiritual leader and best selling author of ‘A Return To Love’, Marianne Williamson was running for US President last year, an American friend of mine snorted that Marianne kept talking about love and harnessing love. What was wrong with that, I asked. My friend just looked at me. A mixture of shock and perplexity written across her face. Ultimately she didn’t really have an answer. Not one she could clearly articulate. Because, if you think about it, what is so wrong with suggesting we harness love? Why are we so uncomfortable talking about love? Love for ourselves, for each other, for our neighbour - and by neighbour I mean the rest of the world that lies outside our friends and families. What is so uncomfortable about love? Why do we not just address that the world needs to heal and in it so many people? If we really all came together, truly and honestly, then we could move mountains. 

I honestly feel there is a spiritual awakening right now. Not everyone will feel it yet. But it’s there. People are waking up to it. People want change. Even those who don’t want change. Change is coming. There is a lot of good happening in the world. Small numbers of people coming together. Doing more. Showing up more. Taking a stand. The more people who do that; the greater the ripple effect. What you think matters. What you say matters. What you do matters. It all starts with a single thought. All of it. And the more people who think about love. The more people will talk about love. The more people will act with love. And that’s how we can all come together and make a difference. That’s how we move mountains.