Living in a city of a million people off and on for the past couple of years, after living in small communities all of my life, experiencing a true sense of 'community' has not happened for me here until the last couple of months. Being out in the world among the sea of people has been an unfamiliar path for me, but one I knew I must travel, as Spirit nudged at me to do so. While I have met some amazing people along the way, I wondered at times if that same sense of 'community' I'd lived for so long, existed out here in the big world. Not having a concept of LIVING life in the city, and the mega people who make up such a place, I wasn't sure it existed. Until now.
It's not like I've lived under a rock, don't get me wrong. I've travelled alot, by myself mostly, to various places in the world, but I always returned to my safe and familiar community after venturing out. This time it's been different. I've just been swimming along, in the flow, and trusting the current to take me where I'm meant to be at any given time. This new way of being and moving in the world has taken some getting used to. I would often find myself looking around expecting to see someone I knew. That's actually starting to happen now...in a city of a million people. Who knew?! For so long I felt like a little fish blending in with all of the other fish, knowing I was different from them, yet seeing parts of myself in them. I recognized some of their souls, even though we hadn't met yet in this lifetime.
Everything is a process in this life. A process with ourselves and our inner terrain. What and who surrounds us being a reflection of where we are at on our inner journey. My journey has me swimming with some pretty cool, heart centered and like minded fish lately, mostly those who are connected to the arts in some form, the creators. Interestingly enough, it is taking place only after a long solo journey, separatd from the fish I knew to be my community for so long. While those fish are still very much my community, I have not been swimming with them physically for some time. This has made room for me to become part of more than one school of fish which has happened over time. I realize now it's been happening my whole life really, as I swam along, meeting others along the way. Some fish have swam back into my life and others swam off. Sometimes it was me who swam off. And that's OK. I'm sure we will swim together again some day when the current changes....and maybe not.
When you live in a small community your whole life (for me that's Cobalt in Northern Ontario, and Norman Wells and Inuvik in the Northwest Territories), being part of a community just IS. Everyone knows who you are and what you do and you are part of it all. I've found that becoming part of 'community' in the city has taken some time, and I've learned that cities are made up of many smaller type communities. It becomes clear, only after swimming for awhile, where one belongs and with whom. You have to swim with different fish to know which fish feel like 'home'.
I've been observing the two communities I will always call 'home', pull together lately as their community brother and sisters move through challenging times. In Cobalt, a single mother and her two kids recently lost their home and everything in it, by way of fire. The community is pulling together to help her by doing a fundraiser and donating items so she can build a new home. In Norman Wells and Tulita in the NWT, they are pulling together to pray for and search for one of our young 17 year old community members who has been missing for over a week now. It makes me proud to come from these communities, and it gives me strength to know that when the shit hits the fan, we come together, closer together every time.
Here in Edmonton, at the end of May, the wife of a local artist friend, was struck down by distracted drivers and her body was shattered. She was the pedestrian. Their journey has had such a profound effect on my journey. Little did I know, when I volunteered to help with the fundraiser (which will take place this Sunday www.compassion4clarice.com) that my little fish ass would be swimming with many other heart centered fish into a community that has come together a result of her accident.
I think the planet is our ocean, and we are all fish. Some appear to be angel fish and some appear to be piranhas, but we all swim together in the same water and there is an angel side and piranha side within us all. It might be a good time to see who you're swimming with and if that feels good or not. If not, give yourself permission to swim off and find some like minded little fishies and hang out in their school for awhile. The current is changing, and maybe you are too.
It appears to me, that heart centered community is being built as a result of what some would call 'tragedy'. Maybe that's why tragedy strikes, to create a huge ripple effect, opening our hearts and bringing us all closer together. A bigger plan that only our Creator can see clearly. I think it's within our power to trust that bigger plan. Life doesn't always appear to be fair from where we sit, it's more about how we react to what is happening beyond our control. If we accept the challenging times as opportunities to open our hearts and get closer to Spirit and each other, our communities become stronger. I believe our future depends on it.
Peace, Love and Community.....
Peace, Love and Community.....
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