A Permanent Shift
Takes Time but Happens In An Instant
Dear friends,
I’m in a theatre space in a former sausage factory in Cologne, Germany. In the background I can hear laughing and clapping as workshop participants play together. They are working on their characters. It was cold and rainy earlier and Chiara’s voice is a little scratchy. It happens sometimes when she’s exposed to sudden changes in temperature. The air conditioning on the plane and then the airport and the trains and the streets, wet and chilly one moment and then the next the sun heating everything up. The wet pavements steaming.
I’ve been left alone with my writing, a box of biscuits and a coffee machine in the theatre’s kitchen space.
We stayed over last night with Albert and Chrissie and had dinner together with them and their daughter Joanna. For Joanna it was the first time she’d been to the family home since their dear old dog Bella died three weeks ago.
It was an odd celebration.
Chrissie and me sharing the same birthday and yet the sadness of Bella’s absence was with us all. Not everyone gets it, but if you’ve felt the unconditional love that animals give then you know the void that pulls at your heart when they are gone from the physical world.
I’d been looking forward to meeting Bella. We only learned of her death in the car earlier yesterday as Albert drove us to the theatre.
This morning over breakfast we spoke about loss. Albert shared how his two brain tumours and the early death of his sister in law changed his view on life. How precious our time is here on earth, that we ought to spend our time on what matters to us. Money is only money, but our time, we never get to win it back, once it is spent.
He’s a businessman who almost lost his house when a business didn’t work out.
That loss he said lead him to starting the business he runs now, which gives him the freedom to follow his passion for theatre. He believes in learning by doing. Something he said that really struck me is; yes, plan, but know that your plan will not work out the way you imagined it. You’ll have to improvise as you go along. If you can accept this from the start, it won’t throw you so badly when you hit the first bump in the road.
It was funny too, realising how strong Chrissie is. I recognised her energy. She was funny and quick and gentle and light. When they were talking about Bella I listened until the quiet voice inside prompted me to speak.
As I heard the words come out of my mouth I was struck by the shift in the world view I was hearing. That we are spiritual beings temporarily housed in the physical world. Learning and life are eternal. For you reading this, it may seem obvious or maybe strange or somewhere between.
Inside this physical form is a form made from light and thought.
Those we have loved, who are no longer physical are only gone from the physical world. As you come to know yourself on the non physical level of your being you find you can reach them in your mind and with your feelings. For me it comes as a pleasurable feeling that thrills through my physical form.
In this culture with its focus on materialism people who express these views are often treated with suspicion or distain, but that is simply a cultural moment which is passing.
Everyone is spiritual.
Everyone is spirit.
Everyone is divine.
Whether we show up as a human or a dog or a blade of grass.
You’d think it would be a comfort to learn of one’s eternal nature.
But for the false self this is a threat.
Why listen to its fearful monologue when we know there is nothing more to fear?
We’re safe if we maintain an open mind.
If we are kind.
If we refuse to condemn.
If we let go of our resentments.
Forgiveness and compassion are compatible with inner peace.
Inner peace leads to outer harmony.
The change takes time but happens in a moment.
One day you look back and realise the world is different.
Not without challenge and pain.
But different never the less.
Even more beautiful than you ever imagined.
Till tomorrow
Love
Mikey