Powerless Power

Candle In The Dark

Pearl of the Day: Enlightened Darkness, The New Natural

Deepak Chopra has said this pearl of wisdom " In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty . . . in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning."

When we are forced to detach from our comfort zone an amazing shift occurs. Once you are rendered powerless and the compass that directed your world is in a tailspin, you have no choice but to detach and go inward into the core of your being and detach.  

Know it or not, your core spirit is always centered and ready to weather whatever storm comes your way.

The recent string of natural disasters coupled with the global economic crisis is enough to unseat any fixed being or thing, Washington Monument included, tossed on top of your already hectic life and personal dramas and you are dealing with a category 5 hurricane that wipes out your previous sense of normalcy and leaves you floundering amidst a blackout.

Instinctually, you want your life back to normal ASAP and many initial reactions are to seek shelter and power at friend’s houses or businesses so you can quickly and seamlessly re-plug into the wired world. 

Others, like myself, sat powerless.

The basic gift of light, ice (especially for accident prone children floundering in the dark!), a hot shower, air conditioning, became the new “It” treasured commodities in an otherwise entitled society. Who has power or a generator and who doesn’t, became the new talk on the streets, and money proved powerless to get your power restored any faster.

We are so far removed from any form of lifestyle where we can't walk into a store and have aisles of food lined up before us, yet we see how fragile our modern existence is and how we can be transported back to a primitive way of living in an instant.

Each passing powerless day pulled me further out from the wired media matrix world and questioning how quickly I wanted to resume my last wired session. 

How comfortable are you sitting at home in the dark?
Do your shadows come darting out?
Or are you at peace with your inner light turned on enjoying the lulling sounds of silence and humming of your neighbor's generator?

It’s not easy to let it all go and surrender to the powerlessness, welcome the darkness and accept that your modern conveniences - lights, air conditioning, hot water, perishable food, television and electronics- are on a much needed respite and assume a new much quieter albeit a little stinkier version of your former self. Especially for any extended span of time.

When the sun sets and your space is lit with candles, the hue of an otherwise white bulb bright room magically softens and the shadows of the flames light up your families faces.

Children are so adaptable. You wonder if your kids can easily unplug or are they desperately seeking a fresh supply of batteries to sustain their wired portable device electric ways?

As the eye of the hurricane fixates upon you, your relationship with your family is front and center. Their safety, welfare, sanity and the need to constantly entertain each other fades to black as you find yourself sitting around the candle lit living room just being and lounging.  

Your no longer passing time but keeping with time.

It presents a unique opportunity to play catch up with each other and with your pets who’d otherwise take a side seat to your lap top. Telling stories over your flashlight microphone and being keenly aware of the sound waves that are filled by your voices and the laughter of your children versus the hissing of powerful wind gusts against your window.
 
Your home which is your safest place on earth suddenly feeling vulnerable and at risk to being whisked away to Oz. What you valued as your prize possessions a week before the blackout now seem immaterial and worthless as a new measurement - survival - underscores the new currency. 

Hmmm, Luis Vuiton or a loaf of bread? Gucci bag or clean water?

Tragedy often evokes spiritual awakenings yet freedom reigns knowing that well after the storm surge, our spirits are our new impenetrable fallout shelter. 

My grandparents used to say, “anything and everything can vanish in a second” or to some, in a New York minute, "so treasure love above all else."

When the lights come back and your eyes re-adjust, your interior once again looks and feels unfamiliar as your compass has shifted a degree from the storm.

Melissa's husband suggested that there should be monthly mandatory blackouts, a self imposed day off from the modern world (sans the loss of power to your fridge and preferably not on the coldest or hottest day of the year), are you game?

Hear more: WORD FROM OUR MOMMA AUDIO on Gabrielle Bernstein's website www.Herfuture.com