Divisiveness, violence, and destruction are rampant. Whether it’s politics, underscored by recent events - or wars, escalating and taking a massive toll on human populations – or the environment, with warnings rumbling through decades as forests continue to disappear, temperatures break records and storms intensify - or the growing divide between excessive wealth and dismal poverty.

This is a crisis period in human history. We are heading for a collapse of all we hold dear or a renaissance, in which we usher in an uplifting age of peace and transformation. The choice is in all of our hands. The world is calling us to be a part of the awakening and actions that embrace our inherent values, that renew our connection to the restorative resonance of nature and life. We can all take actions based on compassion, wisdom and the good of the whole.

The fate of the world does not rest on any one of us or any group or country. It rests on all of us to take simple steps that added to the simple steps of a growing mass, will make significant change to turn the tide.

The simplest steps, such as those to follow, can open us up to amazing growth and connection and vision. As we learn to communicate with loving energy and compassion, whether to people, animals or nature, amazing connections and guidance open up in response.

Simple Steps:

When out shopping or walking, I smile and greet strangers. I started this practice when I had cancer many decades ago. I walked in the early morning hours while I had energy. At that time homeless people were mostly visible during those early hours and their faces were forlorn or blank. There was so little I could do to feel productive at that time, and I started to greet those I passed. “Good morning,” I would say in a cheerful voice. At first many would cross the street when they saw me or look down and pass by quickly. After a time most stayed on the same side of the street and almost all smiled, though still looking down. A few dared to glance quickly at me with a shy smile. They were no longer invisible. They were seen. The feeling (for me) was heartfelt and lifted me up. I was grateful. This practice of connecting with others expanded. At a grocery store one morning I was in line behind a man who was berating the cashier. When he left she looked embarrassed and flushed as I stepped forward. I gave her some encouraging words on how well she handled the situation and watched as her face lifted. She smiled a grateful smile. We were both smiling when I left. There was so little that I could do, and this was such a small thing. Yet so much reward. Such acts ripple forward.

All these decades later, in the small village where I now live, I continue these small practices. I have met and made friends with many homeless individuals. Sometimes, in early morning hours, someone shuffles out from some trees along an ocean bluff or walks along the road with a sack of recyclable aluminum, gathered from trash cans along a path. I greet them, hear their stories, share my perspective or just listen. I feel grateful when I’m in town and am greeted by name by one of these friends.

Animals are another way I love to connect. I’ve come across coyotes, crossing the path and waiting as I come close, then stepping into the vegetation to sit as we can commune together – sometimes waiting for me to get my phone out and take a picture. Or a racoon or deer or a ground squirrel who do the same. Or the little dog who pulls the leash out of her companion’s hand to run down the boardwalk to lick my face. And most of all my cats, who teach me so much. The world is truly beautiful in these simple ways.

And then there is nature. Nothing transports me into the ethereal realm more than those magical pre-dawn hours. So quiet, yet full of subtle sounds and life - the sound of the ocean waves, the feel of moisture in the ocean air, the breeze teasing the bushes and branches of trees, critters scuttling through the brush at the sound of my steps, little snails - barely visible in the dim light, making their way slowly across the boardwalk. Sometimes I offer my assistance by picking them up to deposit them on some greenery on the opposite side – sparing them from being stepped on by someone not aware of their intrepid journey. And the way wild blossoms appear so radiant at sunrise and sunset. So much beauty.

I truly feel the magic of those early morning hours. Simple things, that encourage inner communication and direction in meeting the challenges of life, finding my path and purpose in the unfolding of this human drama, and the role my character will play.

Ghandi: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Cheryl Canfield, CCHT, 2024