The Universe is Speaking

It has been a strange and eventful year. I get exhausted when I read all the things that have happened this year. Even with all the crazy, the year is zooming by. Did you know there are only 19 weeks left in 2020! How? And how is it almost fall again?

Time is zooming by, but I feel like I am in a timeless bubble, like when the Flash goes into the speed force. Everything is happening lightning fast, yet nothing is happening at all. I have been in a forced stasis. Plans were made and shredded. Drafts were written and discarded. Projects were mapped then blown to bits because of other things. And here I am.

I cannot say that I have been doing nothing. Really, I wish that were the case. Instead, I have been doing what I was tasked to do. Reflect and revise. Many things have come out of this strange year, none of which I expected. Like, I am an artist? Yes, the question mark is intentional because I am a grown woman who cannot cut or draw a straight line, but it turns out I LOVE painting!

Remember my coin cozy? Yup, me too. That was terrible. Crochet and I are not friends, and the latch hook set never even had a chance. Seriously it was more fun in elementary school. It is simply a pain now. A literal pain. After typing all day, it hurt to attempt to latch hook. But give me a canvas, a brush, and some paint, and I find joy. Who knew? And who knew my first love, writing, would take a back seat to the paintbrush?

I am not the only one. So many great things have come out of this frustrating age. My friend and her husband started a podcast. My husband finished another album. Another friend committed himself to his photography. A coworker finally decided to go back to school. And another friend discovered that gardening helped her eat better and helped her find peace in a way that meditation never could.

People are discovering things about themselves that would have remained hidden if they were forced to continue the hustle and bustle.

And the hustle and bustle? Many people are wondering why we had adhered to such strict lines of work and home before. At least two colleagues have found a way to work while enjoying a cross country trip with their significant others. For those who are no longer tied to a building labeled work, life has opened up in strange new ways. And everyone is rethinking traditional education, which will hopefully open the doors for real education reform.

What does all this mean? The one thing I am sure about is 2020 is about real and lasting change. The universe is speaking loudly by shaking everything up and turning everything on its nose.

In 2020, the universe is asking you to be still so you can hear it speak. It has been calling for a few years. It is calling its healers and warriors to action. It’s calling its artists to create and builders to build. It is calling the innovators to reimage life as we know it. Right now, the universe is speaking, asking anyone who will listen to be better, do better. For some of us, that means using buried or newly discovered talents. For others, that means discovering new ways of thinking and living. For most of us, it means slowing down to take notice of our micro and macro surroundings.

Not everyone can hear the call. They are busy and distracted. All the noise is drowning out that tiny voice. Some feel it and ignore it, believing this period will not last. Still, others feel the beaconing but fear the unknown and the possibilities. They ask why me? The answer is someone needs you.

It would be a shame if you survived this time and made it to the other side still stagnant. The world has literally slowed its pace, so why not take advantage of it? For sure, we are all changed in some possibly unpleasant ways. I would be remiss in not acknowledging that. I, for one, will probably always freak out a little when I get a sinus infection.

However, this is also a period to hit the refresh button in your life. It is a time for innovation, clarity, and renewal. How that looks for you is completely different from how it looks for someone else. Even businesses have had to reimagine the workday and reinvent themselves.

For me, it has been a complete upheaval of my plans. If I was a house, I would have been gutted to the studs and nearly done with the remodel. Even subjects I thought I had healed from resurfaced in unexpectant ways, teaching me the difference between conscious, intellectual healing and spiritual healing. A ton of valuable and wonderful information has been thrown at me over the last weeks, and messages have been flying at me left and right. All I know for sure is I’m on the right path.   

For sure, nothing about 2020 has been easy for me. The bad dreams and anxiety alone were nearly crippling, forcing me back into therapy. The other side of that pain was the healing, which brought its own aches and pangs.

My mother had major thoracic surgery to treat her cancer in a lung, and a portion of her heart and diaphragm were removed, and mesh was inserted. Weeks later, she is in excruciating pain, often begging for the end. Why? The healing was worse than cancer and the surgery. Her healing tested her will to survive in a way that cancer, chemo, and radiation hadn’t.

And that is true for many people. The pain of facing your past, your present, and your choices is worse than all the things you survived. But the alternative, staying the same, doing nothing, living with the weeping scars, could taint and dim your future.

There are 19 weeks left in 2020. I am not suggesting that folks start performing a mental, emotional, and spiritual gutting. Not without a lot of support, at least. I am suggesting a reset of some aspect of your life that has been lacking attention. Reconnect with your spirituality or creativity. Finally have those deep, vulnerable conversations you have longed to have. Learn something new. Start investing (recessions are the best time to invest), or work on your budget and reduce your expenses. Really start focusing on your health. Whatever you choose, make sure it will help you in the future.

2020 was not the bright shining star we all hoped for, but it has proved to be an excellent mirror, exposing the truth of all things.  Flaws and all, this season is calling for a little bit of bravery and a whole lot of openness. Please, please, please answer the call.