Pain for Change
Crisis. Trauma. Loss. Grief. Uncertainty. Worry. Fear… Is pain always the catalyst for change?
The death of a loved one is a death of you. A psychedelic experience is transcendental. A meditation provides ascension. COVID shakes your soul. Or maybe it’s less obvious — something is just simmering below the surface, barely out of reach.
Your life boat (bed, exercise, food, alcohol, etc) isn’t keeping you afloat. Someone or something inspires you, peaks your interest, ignites a flame. You know there’s more. There’s help, support, release, magic.
It’s inside.
All the effort we’re highly trained, deeply conditioned, to put into seeking outside of ourselves must be turned to the interior. It’s vast. It’s dark. It’s blindingly bright. Where to begin?
Self-Inquiry.
Start by asking yourself when you decided to change, or began considering change an option — or a necessity.
Was pain the catalyst?
We’re forced to face unfathomable fears, heartbreaking loss, irreparable catastrophe, immense tragedy, epic crisis, mortality — of loved ones’ and our own…
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” — Anaïs Nin
Pain is designed to change us. Sometimes change is the only option, whilst other times we fight our way back to “normal” or build walls to protect, to shield ourselves from what we perceive as storms. Why?
What creates revolution, perpetuates evolution?
Once woke — be it gently or a more terribly efficient earth quaking jolt —how do we ever fall back asleep?
We become consciously, spiritually lazy, and forget. Exploring reality, really looking into the nature of life, must continue, even — especially — after the initial awakening.
We can numb ourselves with substances, social media, sleep, many options — and we can ignore ourselves, and each other, via the same means.
“Now I’ve got that feeling once again
I can’t explain you would not understand
This is not how I am…
I have become comfortably numb.” — Pink Floyd
But can we connect? Internally and externally? Can we realize, acknowledge, confess that we’re hurting — and ammend that confession to include others?
Aren’t we aching to connect? Isn’t that part of the pain?
For pain to initiate transformation, we must feel it, go through it, dive deeply into it, know it — and therefore know ourselves. Why did it happen? What causes it to expand? How does it dissolve? Where’s the lesson?
Soul searching often hurts. And eventually it leads to freedom.
Did you sing “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” when you were little, or to your little ones?
“We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it.
Oh no! We’ve got to go through it!”
- So there’s pain — acute, shooting, searing pain — or a dull ache, and everything between.
- Then there’s an awakening — joy, bliss, a feeling of certainty, of knowing, or the opposite — something, even if you’re unsure what.
- And then there’s a choice — live differently, or risk forgetting. And if we choose change, we must commit.
Devotion is key.
Complete, deep, heartfelt and meant devotion — like the vows we make at a wedding or a birth. In love, we look ahead and we promise, we vow, we align with our vision, our dharma, our lover, our baby, our life. The ceremony of it feels official.
Can you officially vow now, to yourself, to a new life?
As you step into your commitment, can you step out of suffering, and thereby lead the planet into a place where pain is an exquisite catalyst for change, not a cozy couch of agony that’s become too comfortable from which to stand up?
Let’s exchange fears for love in a private, or communal, ceremony. This is the coveted entrance, a secret passage to higher consciousness.
Many dark nights of the soul have passed — individually and collectively. But the new dawn can be as magnificent as the darkness was brutal.
To commit to life, we must fully show up. Are you ready?
The Conscious Life Collective — to wake up, and stay awake, together. Ceremony, initiation, community. Till death do us part. And after…
To learn about our community or find out more about the work we do in the world, follow our publication or join the Collective.
