To all those simply feeling fed up, lost, searching, needing escape, looking for a better community...looking to belong?? Looking for a magical life at the end of the rainbow? Look no further!
The secret?
BE STILL.
" I heard the call". One of the top trendy toxic spirituality sayings of the decade, used to justify escaping one's current life under false pretenses by moving to an exotic, usually unsustainable post code or /and embarking on a new career in which one is under skilled for, unsuitable and inadequately financially prepared.
News Flash:
Before you answer this " call", don't quit your day job.
Stop running, stop wishing away what you currently have and stop looking to start over. Today is a new beginning. Start with resetting your mindset. Be Grateful, be present. Maybe where you are is as good as it gets?
The Culprit: Social Media FOMO
Stop letting social media images poison you into thinking that where you are is not good enough. That you haven't done enough. Never allow these glitzy images make you believe that you need something more, or that who you are right now lacks.
Refrain from social media fooling you into constantly thinking there's a better place, time or way. That your gifts better serve elsewhere. That you need to be doing what everyone else doing to matter. That being "seen" or " followed" is what counts. It's a lie. Ironically for the generations before, it was exactly the opposite.
The Facts:
You are not likely being " guided" or "called" anywhere. Lets face it! Let's be frank.
It is more likely that you are being marketed, or lead by someone else's ego casting images of, " what your best life should look like" on a screen. You are being told what your dreams should be or what ideals to follow.
Take deep breath, this is not for the light hearted.... The truth is a tough pill to swallow. Toxic positivity and branded spirituality splattered daily on your screen is a great deceiver and constantly pushing you away from truth. Real life gets hard and we have to deal with it.
Triggered by the Covid pandemic, mass migrations have become a trend. Many communities, cities and especially popular holiday destinations have been either inundated or abandoned by those searching for a "better life". This has caused a great imbalance in natural resources, increased global warming and disrupted social wellbeing in space constrained areas. It has altered economies and not really for the better.
The illusion that social media culture creates is dismantling societies and, well... culture! Everyone is now looking for the bigger and better way that is fed to all by reflections on a screen.
This virtual world influence can displace you, disconnect you, fool you, and frankly, it divides the masses under the guise of connection and the promise of having an ideal life.
Although it also has it's advantages, most social media posts are unrealistic and lead you away from your own dreams and dharma. They are often a misleading escape from reality created by flashy filters and photoshopped pictures, and oh isn't that comfortable, but equally as dangerous.
So why have they influenced so many to believe life is better elsewhere? Perhaps people are simply running from their responsibilites? Or the mundane?
The truth is that life is mundane and that is a very real fact. It is a dance of cycles, ups and downs, good and bad. But are we blinding ourselves to avoid it's inevitable suffering by mass migrating to bigger and better places? Daring to cheat fate and being lead by false hopes on a screen to a fictional " better place"?
Dharma can not be easily erased or ignored. Run fast and hard, but it will follow you, and catch up to you! You can count on that. Your problems won't magically disappear by moving to some magical dream land, shiny spiritual community or sunny island you saw on Instagram. They will simply tag along in the shadows and conglomerate with a whole new set of challenges, just in a different post code.
The Challenge
How about creating evolution where you are? Take a stand, be a voice for justice, and rally those around you to create a space for evolution where it is needed most in YOUR area. This is how true transformation happens. Then you will know what's truly "calling".
The magick happens when you stop running, stop searching and become grateful for who you are and where you are right now. When you take action to make the world a better place for all in your current surroundings,not just a virtual world.
Ask yourself, how can i serve? How can I give back? Are my obstacles real or am I running from reality? How I can be happy now with what I have? Consider your current resources with grace and gratitude. The grass , my friends, is not always greener.
Appreciate that your best life is here, right now. Messy, raw, beautiful and blossoming! Open your eyes and your mind. Stop forsaking the present moment. Don't let filtered posts and shiny new landscapes glamour you with false hopes and images based on an unrealistic milisecond posted in the media, designed to make you believe that you can build a life on that. It's fleeting! A glimmer, perhaps even a gimmick.
Start where you are. Build your beautiful life right where you with those around you. Be a catharsis for evolution.
Build alliances right where you are. Work towards elevating those around you too.
Be diligent in every right action you take, big or small, seen or unseen. Yes, it's unglamorous and exhausting at times, but that is real life. Do the work, don't run!
Then you will find true fullfillment. Don't run from broken communities, build them up.
If you dont like where you are or your community, change it! Be bold, step up, take action , plant compassion where its needed and add love. Be a resource for others!
Help change the world, not be crossing continents but by starting in your own household. The world's greatest endeavours begin at home. Build your dream foundation now, don't wait.
Become untethered to whatever everyone else is doing and their instagram accounts, and reconnect yourself to the nature around you. Allow yourself to consciously navigate the raw experience of now. Consider what you can do where you are. Start a community garden, set up a nature clean up day, feed the homeless. Create a happy, safe haven for all.
Embrace your own culture, your country, your city, your neighbourhood. These aspects need love too. Nuture that! Share your dreams and visions with others around you. Make it your nature to nourish your origins, not leave them behind. Give love, hope and charity to the place where you are.
Create opportunity instead of just fleeing to find it. Search yourself. Are you giving as much as you are taking? Examine all aspects of your current situation. Are you taking steps to improve it? See the good, the bad, the ugly in yourself. Sift through it all with acceptance, hold it, process it. Go from there.
If you are truly, "called" to any another place, you will have so much more to offer and more to gain after you have spent time serving in your own home community.
Stop running away to "belong" , but rather cultivate belonging where you are.
Everyone wants to be a "Shaman", a leader, an icon, but no one wants to do the work. No one wants the suffering, the loneliness, the shadow work, the pain. People search only for the triumph. Everyone seeks to be " seen", but what does that serve?
Does anyone want to fight or stand up for rights anymore, or just bask in some kind of glory. So if life has been challenging for you, guess what? It's challenging everywhere for everyone. There's no magic pill or place to end hardwork or suffering. There's no easy ride. Not on instagram, not anywhere.
So much work needs to be done, yet no one wants to do the work that truly transforms hearts, heals communities , serves the sick and cleans up the dirty, forgotten and broken places. No one wants responsibility , just the recognition and fame. Who wants to get their hands dirty when it's easier to escape reality?
So I "call" you. I call to you examine your life, what influences you, what you influence, what does it serve? Observe. Be present. Be proactive. Become that resource you long for. Stop looking elsewhere for wholeness. Be whole!
That's where the magick is.
Real power, real joy, real fullfimment is in starting where you are and working within your community. You don't have to go far!
Be the change. Serve others. Get grounded and go from there.
If you do decide to go, then please leave wherever you are , a better place. Leave knowing you have given and served in love at your maximum capacity. Leave it a changed, positive part of the world that might be a dream space for others.
Because every other shiny place on your screen will eventually become the same. Another prison you run from.
The Takeaway
Before you think you've heard " the call", be still, observe, look within. Who or what are you serving? What and who is
" influencing" you and why do you feel the " call" to influence or lead others? Is it authentic? It is just you? Who does this serve and how? Why must there be a mass migration or special mecca for spiritual and personal evolution to take place? It's all inside of you. I invite you to cultivate this awareness before taking action. Make the world a better place by starting at home.
Awaken or foolishly surrender to chasing a nomadic dream that will never be good enough. The choice is yours. Without rain, there are no rainbows.
Social media has its uses and place, but don't let it use you and place you. Never forget your true nature .
👉Note: ( This article does NOT reflect those immigrating due to political assylum).
**These are thoughts and words from loosely collected excerpts, conversations and thoughts about future generations and the effects of social technology, based on writings & conversations had with Native American elders, award winning journalists and writers. Some who shared their words and thoughts from theirinterviews with the likes of Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and Ghandi.