Occupy Wall Street: A Love Revolution

me @Occupy Wall St Alter, Liberty Plaza

Sitting at the alter of Occupy Wall Street, i was overwhelmed with gratitude to experience first-hand the epicenter of a Love Revolution sweeping the world.  Right here – in a city whose streets seem to scream “spend money”…”consume”…”buy stuff” – there is a gathering of people who are smiling and saying “there is another way”. 

The atmosphere is akin to a revolution, but this time we are not following a leader and we are not against a separate entity.  Now we realize that we are all in this together – that unity & inclusion are the way forward. 

the movement is humorous & playful

At gatherings in nature, many have been practicing how to create a space of love and peace.  When someone enters this environment they feel this healing vibe washing through them.  We have been practicing in peaceful natural surroundings, so that we can now bring the same energy into the heart of Wall Street.

i believe we are actually 100%, because this revolution is about INCLUSION!

An invitation...

Imagine, you are downtown Manhattan, walking past the New York Stock Exchange.  Grey & black suits stride purposefully by, matching the expressions of their owners. Business is barked into blackberries; meetings, politics, economics and deadlines are bartered.  These are the brothers & sisters of the revolution.  Those souls who agreed to play their part in the cosmic game allowing all of us to awaken.

a rainbow on Wall Street

You hit the plaza intersecting Wall Street & Liberty.  Suddenly, it’s as though a rainbow has burst through the dark, skyscraper dense horizon.  You forget your craving for coffee & donuts.  You feel instead a calm joy passing through your body…as though Bob Marley is personally serenading you “everything going to be alright”.

You begin to ***feel*** the difference between living in the Mind, which brings greed, competition, fear, anxiety, guilt, jealousy, judgement etc. and you realise there ***is*** an alternative.  A forgotten Truth which is now being remembered – consumerism, socialism, capitalism & other such systems are not serving humanity.  We are beginning to realize that there are other ways for us to live together in this world.  Where the word ***harmony*** is more valued than competition.  Where ***love & happiness*** are infinitely more important than money.

This new approach is the way of the heart: bringing compassion, community, love, acceptance, unity, connection, peace, flow & joy into our daily lives.

many opinions expressed (not my belief but i like this photo!)

These are statements which most would agree with, however, our world has been organized in such a way that competition, money & mind are the focus.  Whereas harmony, love & happiness are quaint luxuries many believe they don’t have time to focus on.  Now, as people realize that the way of money isn’t bringing them the satisfaction they were craving, combined with financial security being more difficult to obtain – we are ready to create a new harmonious & loving way of society. 

people under tarps, in the rain

You see many different kinds of people around you.  Some are angrily voicing personal vendettas against the government & media.  Some look like they’ve teleported in from Woodstock circa 1960.  Some are police, others; tourists, mothers, teenagers, musicians, nurses, office workers.  There are many labels one could put on those who’ve come to watch or participate in Occupy Wall Street.  But i believe, even those who came just for 5 minutes to “see the freaks on Wall St” will still feel, in some part of themselves, a seed planted.  That seed will expand and grow within them and naturally guide them towards the shift from mind to heart.

alternative american flag

Goddess of Compassion: Kuan Yin

This is the change we have been awaiting in our world.  This is a part of a love renaissance sprouting up all over our blessed planet. The energy we receive from connecting with & knowing that this change has begun, is the light we can keep in our hearts as we travel through any bumpy transition parts of the journey.  We are now moving together, as a species to a new beginning, a new way of being.  Each of us following our own heart’s path, inspiring one another, supporting & cheerleading each other on our collective way to liberation.

***

As i end my meditation, a bicycle with a boom-box circles Liberty Plaza.  To the skyscrapers & love activists alike, it blasts out the classic “celebrate good times, c’mon!  it’s a celebration!”. Now is the time to celebrate & embrace this joyous shift.  We are ready to balance our minds and hearts – welcoming everyone to join together in creating a harmonious, loving society.

If i’d been waving a placard at Occupy Wall Street it would read:

***choose love!***

I wonder...what would yours say?

me being interviewed @Occupy Wall St

Notes:

My intention for this piece of writing, is to share my experience of occupy wall st & spread the inspiration from this love revolution to as many people as possible.  

Please share with others!

i took these photos (except the ones i'm in!) please ask permission before using.

One last thing...our new york trip was an adventure full of angels.  People appeared from nowhere, in a symphony of synchronicity to tell us exactly what needed to know.  It was magical.  There are two extra-special angels who made this trip so perfect, who opened their appartments to me & the guys i travelled with: i dedicate this blog to them.

Burning Man

Tonight, in a high desert, an effigy of a human will burn.  It is a time to let go.  What is no longer serving you?  What would you like to release to that fire?  What are you ready to be free from? 

Surrender it & celebrate!!!

Feel the energy of the Phoenix arising in you...the strength which is born from the ashes.

***

i release control...i surrender the control my beautiful mind has over my life.  In its place i feel the crazy wisdom of the heart awakening. 

image from: http://phoenixwithin.blogspot.com/

for the exact time the man burns:  http://www.burningman.com/index/full_countdown.html

"London Calling" for Love

This may be a little 'out there' for some, but i'm going to write honestly about my perspective on the London riots.  At the moment i feel London calling out for love and support to counter the fear spreading from there.  We can all help London by looking at ourselves.

The UK is a place of repressed emotions.  It is not considered okay to share our true fears, anger, weaknesses etc.  We can moan about our boss or complain about our boy/girlfriend, but this hardly goes to the depth of our painful feelings.  As a society we're encouraged to 'stay chipper', which means suppressing our deeper fears from our family, friends and even ourselves.

It's these repressed feelings of anger, frustration, criticism, weakness and so on, which i believe are now pouring out of the rioters in London. 

Seeing 'London' inside each of us...

This past week i've been surprised by how much anger has been boiling up in me.  "Most unusual" thought i & pushed it aside.  But it continued to surface, together with feelings of fear, sadness & weakness.  Usually i look at all the negative thoughts & emotions inside and gratefully process them (using EFT, tarot, and other tricks).  So, why this time was my tendency to push it away? 

I started to see a pattern between the 'rioting' angry part of me & the 'judgemental' condemning part.  i saw in myself what is happening in London.  The world is a mirror, reflecting back to us what we are.  Even though i'm in India, i am still connected to the goings on in the UK.  So, i can take responsibility (without guilt!) for the part i've played in the UK being the way it currently is: which i believe, in this case, means acknowledging my repressed anger, fear, self-judgement etc.  Saying 'hello' to my shadow-side!

Once we begin to accept the reality that these feelings are inside us, only then can we begin to process them, to let them go.  It's time to stop ignoring these parts of us.  To stop putting on our British 'polite smiles', 'keeping up appearances' and 'stiff upper-lips'.  To stop pretending to others and ourselves that everything is tickety-boo, when really we feel like we're falling apart inside.  It's time to stop judging the rioters as separate and distant.  To realise instead that we are all connected to our society and culture.  

Know that it's okay to feel angry, weak, sad, afraid etc.  These are a normal part of the human experience!  It's even okay that we've been suppressing these emotions for many years.  i am grateful to the riots for showing me what i have been repressing.  Melting and dealing with these feelings is a lot healthier than having them erupt and boil over.  We can alchemise all emotions and feelings into positive, healthy ones.  But first we must accept that they are there, THEN we can begin to love and care for this neglected part of us.

So, what to do???

First, let's get real with ourselves.  When you feel afraid...acknowledge that feeling.  "i'm feeling afraid about..." is a better inner-monologue than "oh shut up", "it's not okay to be afraid", "i don't get scared" etc. One way accepts and one suppresses.  (To be clear, i'm not talking about fear of the riots, rather whatever form fear, anger etc is arising in your life.)

Once you've accepted your fear there are many ways to process it.  My favourite is EFT.  I've written guidelines on how to practice on yourself - email me for the document.  You could also try having a conversation with your fear (or whichever negative emotion you're experiencing), to understand it better and see where its roots are.

But most importantly allow the emotion to be there, even though it doesn't feel so pleasant, even though it goes against your natural conditioning.  You'll get cosmic bonus points (and feel better) if you can manage the next step...love yourself for feeling afraid/angry/weak etc.  i ain't going to tell you this is easy - we're brought up to believe we should only love what is good.  But i tell you the truth....we got to ***LOVE IT ALL***!  Love the so-called 'good' and so-called 'bad' inside each of us.

Perhaps you can also bring in some forgiveness.  Forgive yourself for feeling this way.  Don't get dragged into the story, drama or the thoughts about the situation, which was only the catalyst for the emotion.  Stay on the feeling level - it's more significant:  the story exists solely to allow you to alchemise these feelings.

Now is the time to release the control the egoic-mind has over our lives.  To return to, & choose instead, the wisdom of our hearts.

I love each of you and i also love all the anger, fear, doubt, weakness and pain which you try to hide away!  It's all there inside each of us and it's time to get a bit more honest about it.  When you start looking at it, you'll realise it's not as big and scary as it seems trapped inside.   Let it out and love yourself!

Show your vulnerability to others & be gentle with yourself.  You'll be amazed at the outcome!

Remember always your heart!

Thank you for reading and listening to this perspective (remember that it takes courage to share this!)

In pure love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Notes...

1. If you're interested in reading more about dealing with emotions and your thoughts, i highly recommend "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle

2. There's a beautiful, simple healing practice called ho'oponopono which we can practice... taking responsibility for my part in the situation...Then repeating the 4 ho'oponopono phrases:

i'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you, i love you.

more details here: http://www.hooponoponohelp.com/

3. Feel free to pass this message on to anyone you feel will benefit from reading it.