GOOD NEWS MONDAYS, Volume 7: Mental Health in a Troubled World

“We are not here to save the world, only to belong to it more fully.” – Author unknown

Last week I got one of my downloads. Information and insight were pouring in from all directions. I have weeks of good news to share, but today I want to focus on mental health.

I heard a lecture by Hadley Fitzgerald, an astrologer and psychologist, with a clear vision and a passion for our planet. Many moments stuck with me, like her quoting Ram Dass  who was asked “How do we navigate the troubling times ahead?” He replied, “The challenge will be to keep your heart open while you’re living in Hell.”

That statement felt simultaneously ominous and comforting. The thought of a coming period of hell would fill anyone with anxiety, but the idea of keeping your heart open showed us the way. We have to do something we have never done before – go through an evolutionary passage with our hearts wide open, feeling it all intensely. Egad! Could we be more vulnerable? We will have to dig deep for courage.

Hell is a relative, personal thing. Some of us think it’s hell to spend a weekend with family; others think it’s going camping; most of us agree it’s the morning commute. Hell is what we make it – how we imagine it; how we fear it; how we face it. This is the first and most important realization we can have – that WE are creating it all, either through action or assent. This is a paradox and therein wisdom lies. Resolving paradox, rather than choosing one side and sticking with it, opens up our perception holistically. It actually shifts our brains when we can see how two completely opposing concepts are both true. It’s a moment of enlightenment.

One of the things that makes it so difficult to keep our hearts open is the intensity. There is so much madness, so much pain, so much suffering and loss and grief! There’s so much to fear! Who wants to feel that? It is because we have not wanted to feel it that it persists. If we can split our minds off from our hearts and not feel the pain, we can ignore it. But we cannot transform it until we feel it, simply because we won’t suffer enough to do something about it. With a wide-open heart we will feel it. That’s the first challenge. The second is “What are we going to do about it?”

If you’ve stayed with me this long, then you are one of the Transformers. You came into this life with a mission – to be part of the solution; to do the work of transformation. We are all sparks of God, Angels, Souls, Quanta of the Consciousness – however we want to envision it. At our core, our source, we are one – completely unique individuals all entangled in one whole. Another paradox to contemplate. How can we be unique and one with everything else? Something to think about today during this new moon in Gemini.

Hadley Fitzgerald also introduced me to Ecopsychology. In the 80’s she began getting clients who were anxious and depressed but had no presenting problem, no specific issue to reconcile. As she dug deeper, she discovered that her patients were suffering from grief and angst about the Earth. As our Earth got sicker, so did they – soul sick.

Think about the bond between mother and child, or twins, or mates – how one would know or sense when the other was in trouble. My own mother once broke out in shingles when one of her children was in danger, even though she had no knowledge of it. We are connected not just to each other in a quantum entanglement. We are also connected, by psychic umbilical cord, to the Earth. She is literally our Mother – our source of nourishment and sustenance. An astronaut once pointed out that we cannot leave the Earth without taking her with us: oxygen, water, food. We cannot survive without a healthy Earth. We arose out of her, we live on and within her, we are symbiotic. So when our Mother is ill, we will feel it.

Therapists and researchers are discovering our interdependence and how contact with nature is healing. There are actual nature therapies. This field addresses another side of Ecopsychology which is what happens when we isolate ourselves from contact with nature? A great many of us live our lives in cars, offices, homes. We have created artificial environments with unnatural lighting, devices beaming at us 24-7. I’m not knocking any of this, but it needs to be brought into balance and one of the ways to do this is to get out in nature. Not a quick run around the neighborhood with our headphones on, but an actual leisurely walk where we can experience natural rhythms, feel life humming all around us, ground ourselves and connect to the Earth. There is tremendous strength for the taking.

It occurred to me that the Earth needs love as much as we do. I realized I could use the Heart/Brain coherence technique and send love from my heart down through my feet into Mother Earth. Try it. It feels wonderful – grounds you, fills you with strength and allows your love for the Earth to grow.

A third piece of information came from Ken Wilbur’s free-mini course on Self-Actualization. At the end of the course, he suggested we create a network of supportive, like-minded, positive thinking friends. Ryan, Ken’s co-presenter, spoke of research that shows if you spend time in negative environments or hang out with negative friends, they will bring you down. The science has to do with resonance and entrainment. The point is if you surround yourself with people who are awakening, who are growing and opening and looking for the most positive solution, they will help you stabilize your own frequency.

One of the dysfunctional ways we bond is through sympathy with each other’s woes. We agree that people are no damned good and corporations suck and everyone is out to get us. Temporarily we feel righteously empowered. But it doesn’t truly nourish. How wonderful to have friends who agree that we can all do better and are becoming more awake, aware and responsible! It’s inspiring.

Many years ago I had to say goodbye to a dear friend knowing that I would never see him again. As I headed home on a long drive I sobbed with grief. The constriction in my chest grew tighter and tighter until I thought I was having a heart attack. My inner voice said, “Why don’t you just relax and open your heart.” Somehow I did that and the pain dissipated, replaced by all the love I felt for my friend. As the love built I began to feel gratitude for all he had taught me. I still sobbed but I learned that I can bear any pain by allowing it to metamorphose into love.

We can gather courage and strength from nature, from connection with our core self and Mother Earth and from a supportive network of fellow Evolutionaries. We’re all in this together, and that’s the good news.

Have an Evolutionary week!