What do you see first...?
 |
Good, Evil or both?
What we see impacts how we live, what we do, what we think and how we feel! |
Many girls like myself went to bed with Fairy Tales littered with battles between Good and Bad, white and black witches, young girls and evil step parents - where victory usually fell to the "Good"!
Then, we grew up and gradually realised that the Tales were flawed; the just deserts don't always go to the 'good girls and boys'.
In my quest to find a better more natural way of living with my small horse herd I've come across wonderful people, horses, places, inspiring thinking and heart warming stories. I've also come across stories, videos, and in some cases real life encounters with people I'd class as in the 'bad' camp. Then once in a while Ive stumbled on stories so sad or situations so dire, that it has pulled me down, deep into an inner debate about the future of man kind and our value add to the planet. Last month, the plight of horses left to die in Fosse Park, Leceistershire was one such true story.
It's left me wondering, is there more good than bad out there? Do we have a future as a compassionate responsible planet, nation and community?
The dawn of 2012 and the prophecies that it would be "the end of the world" was not about the world ending in its physical form, as per some interpretations, but it was about humans ceasing to be the way we are, and finding a new, more enlightened way. It was a prophecy about our spiritual evolution. Not God or Allah but spirituality meaning our ability to connect with everything around us, become more of who we are and value all living creatures - two or four legged, winged, scaled, black or white.
It was predicting an important 'tipping point' in our evolution where we would start to consciously choose a dark existence or light, despair or hope, negativity or positivity. 2013 and the years ahead, are about an 'energetic shift' away from struggle towards a more fulfilling existence.
In summary, on December 21st, 2012 (always an important day for me as it's my birthday) the scales would tip - one way or the other, towards black or white. It would set the course for our future.
A year on and I'm still wondering do we know how to make that shift? A life spent in comfy co-existence with hurt, blame and punishment isn't easy to shed. So, will it all 'turn out ok' at the end of the day? What's the evidence for or against? Certainly, the start of 2014 has felt very mixed to me.
The dawning of the Year of the Horse gave me cause to celebrate in the hope of inheriting or aspiring to emulate some of the energies implicit in the horse - his/her energetic, bright, warm-hearted, intelligent spirit born to be free and expressive.
So far this year has been a year of having my eyes opened to another reality. A place where humans are steeped in cruelty, disregard, violence and punishment. Seeing videos and images showing animals (not just horses) on the receiving end of our in-humanity is utterly sickening. Learning that people whose work we have followed don't practise what they preach can fill us with disbelief as we suddenly question our beliefs .... "well if he or she can't walk their own talk, what hope do I have"?
In a previous blog I've freely admitted my own cowardice at facing unpleasantness, in life! At times because it feels too overwhelming to become fully aware of the details of atrocities that families, animals, nations suffer, on a daily and hourly basis. (Did you know in Africa an elephant is killed by poachers every 15 minutes because humans want their tusks)! How did we stoop to such an all time low?
But then, with each recorded 'plight' there is a silver lining. Usually in the shape of a Good Samaritan. It so often starts with a single human being, deciding (or spontaneously) moving to act! Add some bravery and willingness to be outspoken and suddenly there are followers, public awareness and a campaign to change things for the better. The Fosse Park plight is one such instance with a peaceful protest now planned for April 16th in London. (For details see my facebook post).
Being honest, it can be too easy to switch off the play button on the video, walk away from the horse tied to a stake without food or water, or ignore a mother's violence towards her child. These are those 'black' moments and it is a conscious choice we make each time we do nothing.
When we find ourselves thinking 'we can't make a difference' - we can! Mark with the Fosse Park horses has demonstrated this so very clearly, it all started with the compassion and love felt by one man towards horses in plight.
In Joe Camp's book 'Born Wild' he lists American women fighting in the law courts the unlawful activities of the Bureau of Land Management and their violation of the wild Mustangs.
Authors, bloggers, speakers and trainers who really want change are not afraid to voice their opinions; thank goodness! It won't mean they are all right, or all of the time. As Ive written before, if it makes you want to run away from their version of the truth, maybe we should linger a little longer, just long enough to question what deeper truth we are trying to avoid by turning away. Oftern there is an important life lesson for us to be learnt. Yet, at the same time I continue to urge us all (at the same time as being open), to also be discerning and evaluative enough to find out our own individual 'truth'. Notice what we are drawn towards and what resonates with us, and what does not.
Better to be curious and discerning versus closed and blind; following like the proverbial Lemming without stopping to think why and what else is out there?
Bottom line, one of the worlds best selling all times book The Law of Attraction holds a tight belief that what we expect, desire and believe in will manifest itself.
If we believe we are unlovable, chances are we will be on our own. If we don't believe in commitment we'll fall in love with partners who leave us or are married and aren't free to be with us in the first place! If we view the world as a favourable place (see one of my life long friends work, book, blog The World is a Safe Place), we will find much to be happy about. If we believe the world is un-favourable 'life's a bitch and then you die' we're likely to find lots of uphill struggles along the way.
So to a large degree, what is around us; Good versus Evil, will be a mirror reflection of our view of the world. It will grow along with the growth of positive or negative thoughts and feelings emitted by us, our friends and family, neighbours, colleagues and countrymen. We, singularly and cumulatively will impact what is around us. We can therefore, chose to believe (and will find evidence to back it up) that every fallen horse is a reason to give up and give in, believing we are alone in our angst and unable to fight it. Or, we can see it as an opportunity to bring into view all those unknown good Samaritans out there, waiting to make a difference!
We will still face a year of frustration but alongside it we can nurture gratitude and appreciation. Starting with ourselves, today, and, allow it to grow for the benefit of us all, and so many unknown Others.
For me personally, I owe a massive debt of gratitude to an 'Other' known simply to me as "Mark the Fosse Park man" with a heart and a willingness to act that has restored my faith in the Unknown Others out there waiting for their calling. I hope that includes me too.
