Month: January 2021

Embodying Light

Photograph © 2021 Peggy Kornegger

In her inaugural poem, Amanda Gorman spoke of being light in the world. In doing so, she opened the door wide so that light could shine in, in all its radiance and power. Her words echoed out from the podium around the world and across the centuries. Standing invisible beside her were immigrants and enslaved people, civil rights activists and suffragists, Parkland students and pacifists, poets and day laborers. All those who have envisioned a freer, more compassionate world and lived and died for it were there in spirit to witness a shift in consciousness becoming visible at last.

You could feel the energy shift and recognize it in the faces of those present, speaking, singing, and seeing herstory/history in the making. Many of the women, like new Vice President Kamala Harris, wore luminous purple, others sunshine yellow, some radiant red or crimson. The colors were visible light. Permeating everything was a vibrant energy of transformation and change. The traditional songs that were sung—”This Land Is Your Land” and “Amazing Grace”—took on a deeper tone of inclusiveness and gratitude. Even the national anthem sounded somehow different, as Lady Gaga, wearing a golden peace dove, passionately sang the words. The feeling in the hearts of those listening, there or at home, was relief at having collectively survived an extremely challenging, painful time into a new dawn. Four years fell away, 200 years fell away, 2,000 years fell away. This is the Great Shift into Light that has been foretold by elders and seers for millennia.

I was continually moved to tears during the songs and speeches. It wasn’t patriotism I was feeling; it was profound gladness that this country had narrowly escaped falling further into fascism, that light was visible ahead of us and all around us, that humanity was reaching a new level of awakening. The colors of the thousands of flags spread out on the mall seemed to show a rainbow expanse of possibilities—for all people everywhere. Ultimately, it’s not about countries and presidents (though they can hold symbolic places in the world’s histories); it’s about the evolving of human consciousness and the emergence of a shared life on this planet based in love, compassion, and celebration of diversity.

I could see and feel it coming into being on January 20. Amanda Gorman gave voice to the words that were written on our souls before we entered this particular lifetime. We are all playing our parts, none of us extraneous or unimportant. Each of us is unique in our life purpose and inner vision and thus absolutely indispensable in the weaving of the greater tapestry of freedom, peace, and loving kindness here on Earth.

Poets and politicians and people of all kinds are being moved by something just now coming into humanity’s awareness. We are here to live out a sacred promise made eons ago across the cosmos. We have come to this planet to live the Light, our soul light, and share that light in all we say and do. This is the time we were born for. We are standing, souls shining. We are Light embodied.

Breathing Peace, Breathing Hope

Photograph © 2020 Peggy Kornegger

Last November, when a new President and Vice President were elected in the U.S., many of us cried tears of relief. We felt we could breathe again, even if just for a moment. Not that the huge problems that face this country had been solved, but lighter, more compassionate voices were speaking at the national level. Possibility was appearing once again, where impossibility had ruled. Hope was arising within us, and the distant dream of a peaceful resolution of divisions seemed somehow closer. Now, in the wake of last week’s violent break-in at the Capitol building in Washington, it is even more important to hold onto that dream and to move forward in peace.

On a planet of polarities like Earth is, we are daily confronted with opposites, seemingly in conflict with each other. Yet, perhaps they are here for us to embrace them, to come into balance with what appears to be broken wholeness. Maybe the human experience is all about healing separation, within ourselves and in the world. Is it possible that each opposite is in fact an opportunity to open our hearts to oneness? What if fear and mistrust exist so we can learn to love unconditionally? What if pain is present to engender compassion and kindness? And despair to spark hope? This is a stretch, I know, but consider the possibility that every experience we have is bringing us closer to aligning with our soul’s vision of life, which is that it is all perfectly orchestrated for our greater evolution into loving awareness.

This view helps me to put into perspective the up-and-down swing of global events (and my life) in recent years. I know in my heart that a Great Shift is occurring, one that affects everyone and everything at the deepest possible level. Yet how to live that awareness day to day in the face of injustice and hatred? Is peace possible on this planet? I believe it is, and I believe we are getting there, moment by moment, breath by breath. We learn how to live by seeing how we do not want to live. We learn the sweetness of peace by experiencing the bitterness of turmoil and struggle. We choose cooperation and unity when our human spirit is exhausted by antagonism and discord. The time for universal harmony on this planet is now. A harmony that holds difference with tenderness and respect, and joyfully sings every note on the diversity scale of humanity.

Who knows how post-election changes will play out? We are still passing through continually shifting scenarios of political dissension almost daily, as we hang onto the possibility of reconciliation. Such a coming together and rebalancing needs to occur beyond the infrastructure that defines a nation or state. It is among people that the change must occur, individually and collectively. A change of heart that brings a breath of fresh air to all those who have suffered from hatred, fear, or violence in their lives. It is the heart and the breath that give us life. So if life is to continue on this planet in any way that is sustainable, then together we must open our hearts to compassion, peace, and hope for humankind–and live that dream into the world with every breath we take.