Element of WATER

THE STILLNESS POINT

November 6-February 4
"Go with the Flow"
Change
Potential

The Longest Night of the Year: The precise moment of the 2007 solstice will be Sat., Dec. 22, 1:08 A.M. EST. The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter.

Winter solstice is a gravitation point. When the energy shifts at Summer solstice, we begin a gradual decline, or withdrawal, to this inward point six months later. From December 21st, we begin to move outwards once again, culminating in an explosive transformation at Summer solstice. Winter solstice is the center of the internal world - a place we are quietly pulled over a six-month period until we hit the still point at the center. We can fight it, we can embrace it, we can dance with it - ultimately, this point determines the quality of the upcoming six months.

The beginning of November (coincidentally, the very day Winter began), on my last day of visiting my daughter in Philly, I got sick. The plane ride home was miserable - chills, fever, shaking, crying - I was a mess. I came home, cancelled everything on my calendar, and settled in to have a week of inner exploration. I don't mind getting sick - it's not something I resist, but see it as a time of inner work. So I do not use medications but instead, put myself on a detoxifying regiment. Fluids, vitamin C, hot limeade, etc. I made sure I had plenty of kleenex, and spent the week blowing my nose, resting, writing, and waiting for recovery.

When I cancelled my calendar, I simply moved everything to the following week. When that week came and I was unable to work, I was dismayed. Breathless, exhausted, and still releasing what seemed like pounds of old muck, I found myself having to cancel things again. Pushing everything back yet another week, I continued to rest, hydrate and write. The third week came around, and I was no better. At that point, I stopped putting anything on my calendar and adopted a "wait and see" attitude.

I got worse. The external temperature plummeted, and getting the dogs out twice a day became a huge challenge. The bitter cold triggered my lungs into asthmatic gasps for air. I cried every day. Things looked bleak and depressing. I holed up in bed and read things like "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Kline, caught up on "the news" via the internet, and felt as though all the good things in the world were dying. Despair became my bedmate.

I was actually grateful to be sick, as it was forcing me to stay home and focus on one thing - that still point. Without any external distractions, I became hooked into the tractor beam of my center. Allowing myself to be sucked along into the darkness and despair, I knew that if I just paid attention, things would become clear. I continued to write, to cry, to let myself feel how horrible things were in the world. One day I woke up, and knew it was time to turn to western medicine for help. I went to the doctor, was diagnosed with pneumonia, and given some powerful drugs. Immediately, my journey inward turned around. I began to move towards the light again.

One of my first nights feeling better, I caught up on my TED talks. The hope and wonder and excitement I felt as I saw what was going on in my world was like liquid ecstasy. I went to see "The Golden Compass", and cried when I saw the carriages and the airship. "We have the technology to do this" I thought. "We can make vehicles that are whimsical and beautiful and leave the environment clean". Daily, my inbox was flooded with stories of the goodness of the human spirit. I drank it all in like an oasis in the desert.

The six week journey into the darkness showed me something extraordinary. As I was pulled down, or back, or however I want to describe it, I could only see all the things that were wrong with the world. To me, it was like looking through the Hubble telescope. I find it absolutely fascinating that the light we see as we look through the Hubble is from the past - some of the events we are seeing are millions of years old, and those stars are no longer even around! We are literally peering into the past.

I believe my sickness was a metaphoric journey into the past, the worst of our collective humanity (and I, being human, have ownership in that place). I was keenly aware of the horror, the greed, the violence and mostly, the rape of the sacred. As I was swept along this dark current, depression and panic buffeted me. I have been down this road many times, and many times experienced suicidal depression as the weight of our history smothered me. This time, I knew I had the structure and the resources to handle what I was feeling. I was prepared for those intense feelings, and trusted I would be able to come out again. On the day I woke up and said "it's time to get medication" , there was no doubt that my six weeks of visiting history were up, and that I was ready to turn around.

As my vision began to look forward, and I began to heal, I was treated to the optimism of TED, the glorious stories of YES and ODE, the beauty of life and love and that, despite everything, people are coming together in record numbers to make a difference in how we treat each other. I was flooded with optimism. I was excited beyond belief. I was filled with hope and gratitude and complete awe and thanks that I am here at this time in history and get to be part of something extraordinary.

In fact, I have never been so hopeful about where we are heading. Creativity is propagating faster than we can even talk about it. Ideas are being shared and refined in record numbers. People are excited. We are no longer waiting for leadership to set the pace - we are setting the pace ourselves. Each and every one of us is becoming a leader. We stand poised on the edge of something immense, something wonderful, something so new we are barely able to talk about it. But it is here. There is no stopping it. Life is making an evolutionary leap, and we are part of it.

So if you have been feeling oppressed, or hopeless, or unable to believe in the human spirit, I encourage you to take your eyes off the telescope and turn around. What is being reported around us is our history. Our power lies in our actions, and those belong to our future. Every single day, every single act you perform determines if you will be trapped in the past or part of creating a glorious new future. I believe each and every one of you is necessary for us to make this leap. Go ahead - dare to dream, dare to act, and then dare to be happy - happier than you have ever been before.

As the world stops briefly at 12:08 am CST Saturday morning, feel that perfect point of stillness in you in which all potential is contained. Then, turn yourself towards your perfect future and receive the world with arms wide open.