These are the days (chrysalis mix)

These are the days
(chrysalis mix)

CALLIGRAPHY BY THICH NHAT HANH

These are the days. When the interconnectedness, and the vulnerability, and the uncontrollability of our human lives – and of Life itself – are once again laid bare. As the corona virus – and virus-like fear – travel through our collective system, the world is being united in a sort of collective trauma, and in a collective response to trauma. All of our systems are being tested. All of our allegiances and priorities are being exposed. We are discovering both weaknesses and strengths we never knew we had. No one knows the future.

If the climate crisis hasn’t woken sufficient people with sufficient political power, perhaps the addition of this corona crisis – and its ensuing economic and political crises – will. Who knows? But whether we hear the call of the times as a whisper, or as a shout, or even as a song in a dream, the call is clear. Whether we experience it as an injunction, or an invitation, or even as a call to adventure – anyone with ears to hear now knows that profound transformation is required of each and every one of us, and of all of the systems that we have created. In order to survive, and also in order to flourish. And we can no longer hold back from this call – as if there were some perfect future moment in which we finally give our all to life. All the true revolutionaries and wise mystics agree: this is it.

The wild cat of possibilities is out of the civilised bag. The whole world now knows that it is possible to radically re-order society overnight. Given a sense of urgency, given the political and cultural will, given the exercise of power, it is possible to literally change things overnight. All our pleas for cautious steps, and all excuses for our own sluggishness, are being blown away by this virulent storm.

If we embrace the call, then this transformation will leave no stone unturned. It requires both the outer and the inner transformation of our individual, communal and collective lives. It requires courage and humility, honesty and presence, kindness and humour, creativity and wisdom. It requests the very best of us all, and the very best of all of our traditions.

When a caterpillar spins its cocoon or fashions its chrysalis, it locks down so that it can surrender to a natural process of profound transmutation. While a few of its old structures remain, much of its old body is broken down into protein. Then imaginal discs of imaginal cells use this supply of protein to grow and multiply – dozens of cells becoming scores becoming thousands, becoming eyes and legs and mouth parts and genitals and wings...

This lock down time is our chrysalis time. And we are these imaginal cells – each one with a purpose to play. We wake up, and we wise up. And then we join up – in communities of imaginal discs, each disc fashioning a vital part of the new creation, each one connected to the whole. We open up together, we dig deep together, and we grow together. We share our fears and our hopes – all are welcome at our table. We share our experience and our resources – we liberate our riches. And then we begin to raise our power. We allow our visions and dreams to inform our tactics and strategies. We allow Life’s wisdom to renew and direct us.

This transformation involves going beyond what we know, while conserving and adapting the best of what has gone before. It is founded in ancient, indigenous wisdom. It embraces new possibilities. It is not afraid to experiment. It is not afraid of evidence, yet it does not presume limitation. It is both an evolutionary and a revolutionary path.

Let us be clear that this great transformation is founded on Love. Love is both our ground and our goal. Love is our means of transport and our deepest nature.

This love is the One Love that exists at the heart of creation. This is the One Heart that lives inside all of our hearts – even if our hearts feel closed or wounded or broken. It is a love from Mother Earth, and a love for Mother Earth – for her beauty and abundance, for her intelligence and power, for all of her elements and all of her creatures – including ourselves. This love delights in innocence, but it is no fool. It is a love that is able to look cruelty in the eye – including our own cruelty. It knows that the fruits of peace require that we nourish the roots of justice. It knows that true liberation and true freedom always come with a price. It is a love that embraces both birth and death. It is our only guarantee.

This transformation requires that we own our individual and collective shadows. This transformation requires both individual and collective healing. All the problems “out there” are also problems and potentials “in here”. Unhealed trauma – both personal and collective – will inevitably surface. Navigating these waters demands considerable skill and presence and compassion. We must learn to own our projections – including our projection that “they” are the problem, that “they” have the power, and that “they” will sort things out.

This transformation is grounded in good health. When our systems get out of balance, we become susceptible to illness and disease. This transformation requires the re-balancing of culture and nature, the feminine and the masculine, the heart and the mind, the spirit and the flesh, light and dark, black and white, old and young, silence and noise, digital and analogue, being and doing, rights and responsibilities, north and south, east and west – and all polar opposites on the human compass.

These times are showing us that health – like Life itself – is fundamentally indivisible. The health of any society depends on the health of the most vulnerable. And the health of our human family depends upon the health of the planet – its living land, and its living seas, and its living skies. We know this in our hearts. We know this in our bones. We know this in our lungs.

This transformation involves us all dying to old identities, and habits, and ideologies, and attachments. It necessitates the death of an old order. It involves entering realms of the unknown, in which both pessimism and optimism fail us.

This transformation involves great vulnerability and great courage. Perhaps both untold suffering and untold kindness lie before us. Perhaps we will all be called to be braver than we think we are.

Undoubtedly, some of the human family will want to continue playing at being caterpillars, consuming every leaf in sight in order to maintain ever-bloating business as usual. While we must do our utmost to welcome and value all who join this great adventure, we must remember that you can’t wake someone who is pretending to be asleep. The old order – like any system or identity being threatened with dissolution – will undoubtedly fight for its survival. Solidarity in these times is as vital as good food and clean water.

And while these times naturally flow with grief and mourning, they are not times for sadness. Celebration and joy and laughter are our flowing companions, too. Without music and dance and beauty we risk becoming even madder than we already are!

Gone are the days of protesting and complaining. Our souls are tired of shouting “No!” We must now be the transformation that we want to see – the profound transformation that we know is necessary, and that we now know is possible. All of our actions must align with our highest values and our deepest vision. As we sow, so shall we reap. We must move from being protesters and rebels to becoming humble yet powerful members of a new form of government – in the service of the planet and all her children, and especially in service of the most vulnerable among us.

For this transformation is rooted in the great
"Yes!"
that lies at the heart of creation –
the great "Yes!" that ever calls us on,
and ever guides us home.

These are the days (chrysalis mix) v 1.0
Sunday 29th March, 2020
Take what is useful – compost the rest.

www.pigandink.com/these-are-the-days

PRINTS BY EMILY JOHNS