These weeks and even months have been trying for many of us. In London, the skies have been greyed over for what feels like months with the occasional tint of blue now and again -but so fleeting you nearly forget. Everyone is tired as winter drags on. We’re low in vitamin D and moral.

But there seems to be a much greater fog over us all. Solar flares, mercury retrograde and a whole lot of water in pisces -if you follow any bit of astrology-is definitely having its pull on us.

As I struggle, feeling lost and confused at times, I’ve learned to reach out rather than sit alone with it. It isn’t about venting, it is about being transparent and vulnerable. Perhaps this is the gift and teaching during this challenging transition between Winter and Spring, death and rebirth: that with humility, sensitivity, vulnerability and transparency, when we connect to one another from that place, an incredible amount of love, support and compassion comes through.

We moan because out there in the world, in public, we find people are becoming more and more rude, inhuman, insensitive, even callous at times. It is something to moan about because it’s hard, it’s difficult, it’s heavy and unpleasant. It’s all of those things but not because it’s uncomfortable and even unfortunate, it’s because deep down we know that such behaviour is not our true essence. Our true essence actually is one of love and compassion, of empathy and care. Spirituality has known this for eons and science is now slowly catching up to it.

So what’s the problem then?

If our environment doesn’t support our true essence our spirit within us begins to hurt and feel wounded. Our energy shrinks and we become small. We draw the curtains, put up the walls and go into hiding because “out there” becomes too painful. What we are reacting to though is not others, we’re reacting to the system we’ve created and feel trapped in.

Very few people feel nourished, nurtured and enlivened by their jobs. Many people feel under incredible stress and pressure financially. Many begin to question “what’s the point of it all?” and this is a great question to come to. It’s not a hopeless question, it’s a question that can inspire change and transformation. Sometimes we need to really see how ridiculous things are, how -excuse my french-shitty they’ve become. We’re not meant to be crammed into tubes wearing black everyday. It’s like a perpetual ground hogs day and the day is a funeral. It ain’t fun!

What we are finally come to realise is that the system, society, paradigm, structure we’ve created -that perhaps at one point or another had value- no longer serve us anymore. Again, this is a good thing.

Money has ruled us and governed our safety, worth and ability. This paradigm cannot remain because look at what it is doing to us. We’re not shoving each other in the Underground because we have a fundamental hate for human beings, we are shoving one another because we are suffering as a whole.

We need creativity, love, freedom, sun, fresh air and play in order to survive. We need meaningful conversations, heartfelt connections and friendships that take place in person not over the internet. We need imagination. We need community. We need to feel human again. We are not robots but if we don’t change our current situation soon we will act like robots.

So how do we change what may seem insurmountable?

By having compassion for where we are. For beginning to see the humanity is us all and that starts with us as individuals. We need to stop pushing, achieving, doing simply to get things done. We need to connect to what enlivens us, inspires us and moves us to live life with heart. We can only change the outer by transforming the inner. But change does bring up our shit. There may be turmoil, angst, anger and plenty of fear but these parts of us need to be heard, acknowledged and embraced. They need to be loved – as hippie as you might or might not think that is it’s the truth!

So let us speak up to what isn’t working with the intent to transform it into something that will. It isn’t time for passivity-especially passive aggressiveness. It is time we engage because the cost of being disengaged is a far greater debt than money can buy.

In the face of struggle and discouragement, of hopelessness and confusion, it is time to believe that maybe magic can happen, that maybe life can and is wonderful. We just need to see through the fog into the clear serenity that lies beyond it.

There is hope…if you believe it.

I say all of this for myself as much as to everyone who is moved to read and share this. My pursuit is not to be perfect, my pursuit is to be human, vulnerable, transparent and true.

This is just one voice of what is happening in our current state. There are many wonderful things happening too and wonderful people that are showing great generosity and kindness. I see that side of life as well. I felt moved to write this today as I have felt, seen and heard of a lot of struggle this past week.

In the words of Carl Jung:

“There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” 

The dark allows us to see the light but we will not see the light if we avoid the dark. The time we are moving into, the paradigm we are creating, will be one of balance: between light and dark, masculine and feminine,  divine and earth,  being and doing.

I wish you well on your journey.

With love,

Corinne