I'm a mystic, a psychic, so why don't I have an opinion about what's going to happen on winter solstice in 2012? Imagine me shrugging my shoulders. Who knows what's going to happen? Probably a whole lot of nothing exceptional.
Maybe I'm wrong, and the world is going to end, or "Christ consciousness" is going to arise, or suddenly we're going to understand that peace is the path and change our ways ... or ... maybe it'll just be one of the final shopping days before Christmas, just like it always is.
I'm not being cynical here, really I'm not. I don't blame anyone who hopes and prays for a big dramatic shift that takes place overnight. People all over the world have wondered about doomsday. There are myths from almost every culture from the north pole to the south pole, throughout history, about the end of time.
Nothing lasts forever, that's for sure, but the idea of a sudden and dramatic end of the world is not a belief I can buy into. You see I remember the Harmonic Convergence. That day was supposed to mark a dramatic shift in human consciousness. Hey I got out there in the morning with my crystal and Ohmmmed along with the crowd. I was quite hopeful. What I remember is that my scooter developed a flat tire that day. Does that seem harmonic to you? Me neither. As for the big shift in human consciousness? I saw no evidence of it. Pfffft.
As a species we are so impatient. We want the fireworks, the instant gratification of dramatic change. Who could blame us? It sounds so interesting. But the way the world works is slow compared to our quicksilver lifetimes. Hence our hopes that maybe something really big will change everything all at once are a little self-centered. Things change, just not on our human timelines.
I do think Something Is Happening; I think through blogging, Skype, Facebook and Twitter (etc.) people all over the world are interconnecting in ways that have never before been possible. I think 'multi-tasking,' (for instance, talking on the phone while simultaneously driving and listening to music) is forging new neural pathways in our brains. Some of the fallout from all that extra brain activity includes Alzheimers, ADD, OCD and Autism. Speeding up the human brain the way we have during the last one hundred years inevitably leads to big problems. But we have to evolve, we have to, because we can no longer follow the evolutionary path of our past - which was to increase cranial size. Our heads are so big we can barely be born as it is.
Yes, I think we're on the edge of Something Very Big. Even the sheer volume of humans on the planet at this time seems, to me, to be part of building a critical mass to take us through an evolutionary doorway. But the idea that it's all going to happen during a particular twenty-four hour period just because the Mayans said so? I remain skeptical. What do you think?
36 comments:
I always love reading your blog. I'm with you that the winter solstice 2012 will likely be rather like most days. The End of the Universe for some. The Beginning of Everything for others. I'm going to celebrate turning back from the nadir of short days to the promise of summer.
And your montage photos are wonderful!
I only know a bit about the 2012 phenomenon-- didn't know for instance that it's specifically linked to the solstice, but did know about the Mayan Calendar. Yes, I remember the Harmonic Convergence, too-- I spent it on a rather epic road trip from Charlottesville, VA to Niagara Falls; oddly, (or not) it did mark a major event in my life. But I'm with you on the slow train; Robert Frost had a wonderful poem about this, "On Looking up by Chance at the Constellations." Anyone who's interested can read it here
I learned this from Hemingway this weekend:
"Africa, being as old as it is, makes all people except the professional invaders and spoilers into children. No one says to anyone in Africa, "Why don't you grow up?" All men and animals acquire a year more of age each year and some acquire a year more of knowledge. The animals that die the soonest learn the fastest. A young gazelle is mature, well-balanced and well-adjusted at the age of four weeks. Men know that they are children in relation to the country and, as in armies, seniority and senility ride close together. But to have the heart of a child is not a disgrace. It is an honor. A man must comport himself as a man. He must fight always preferably and soundly with the odds in his favor but on necessity against any sort of odds and with no thought of the outcome. He should follow his tribal laws and customs insofar as he can and accept the tribal discipline when he cannot. But it is never a reproach that he has kept a child's heart, a child's honesty and a child's freshness and nobility."
Funny, me and my crystal ommed with the crowd on Cadilac Mtn, and it was also my birthday.
2012? I see change speeding up, and people want it, or most seem to now. Maybe we've finally reached that 100th monkey, or will 12/21/12?
It will probably end up being like the year 2000 was--at least where I was living at the time (a very small town). There was all this hype, people bought all this food and water at the grocery store, made disaster kits, and prepared for the worst, and nothing happened.
I do agree with you, Reya, that we are on the verge of something big, and I totally appreciate and value the interconnectedness that blogging/facebook/social networks, etc are bringing to the world. Overall, it's a good thing, and multitasking IS great for the brain. :) Thanks for another thought-provoking post.
I hadn't heard about any of this until yesterday, so it's interesting that you're writing about it. (We're on the same wavelength again!)
I think 2012 is a lot like the Y2K bug, or the Confickr virus, or, as you said, the Harmonic Convergence. It's just another year. Nothing out of the ordinary will happen -- which means, of course, lots of wonderful and terrible things will happen, but all of them the same things that happen all the time.
It's in line with all conspiracy theory, in that what happens is not mostly decided by billions of human beings making billions of decisions, but by some mysterious outside agent
Hadn't heard of this one before.
In answer to your question - your description of evolution seems to make a lot of sense.
I think Hemingway found the 100th monkey when he wrote that. Leave it to Washington Cube to find the most eloquent bit of Hemingway's writing. Thanks.
And John thanks for pointing me in the direction of Frost's poem. Wow! I've been doing a series of paintings of constellations, so it was the perfect thing to read.
Multitasking is good - and bad - for the brain. But it's necessary to rev up our neural networks. I guess.
I have been thinking about this quite a bit as there are constantly shows on the history channel talking about Nostradamus and the end of the world. It seems that many historians are actually optimistic that it will be a turning point, and not The Apocalypse. I am with you though, I believe the changes will come, but they will be more gradual and fluid.
Your post brought memories of Y2K and all the hysteria. I even stocked up on canned food and bottled water, just in case. Hopefully, in the case of
2012, life will just go on, as before.
On building critical mass and being on the verse of something big... watch this:
Did you know?
Looks like I screwed up the link. So, once more with feeling...
On building critical mass and being on the verse of something big... watch this:
Did you know?
I hadn't heard of this before, so of course had to look it up.. quite intriguing.
I do also enjoy the global interconnectedness of our times.
seem to be some apocalyptic things going on environmentally - a shift in conciousness could only be a good thing I guess. Well we made it past 1984, and Y2K and so many other milestones.. so maybe we should all plan a post 2012 meet up??
When was the Harmonic Convergence?
thanks for another pensive post x
I've meditated with young Lucy, as the sounds of her hour of eating took me into one of the deepest sits I have experienced in a long time. She is a baby truly loved and adored by her parents!
i think the world has been changing in response to the world that is arriving for some time now. i've known for myself since i was a little boy that "the end of the world" is a misnomer and that in fact it's "the end of a world".
so.
on the surface, the collapsing of the economic, political, fossil-fuel based, man subjugating nature model, and so many antiquated social infrastructures suggests that something is pushing it all out of the way. so, how best to welcome whatever is doing the pushing?
care in every way possible. interconnectedness or "community" as i prefer to name it. environmental awareness. acts of quality with the understanding that acts of quality are not bound by quantity and so it doesn't matter what they are - just that they are. and i think a really good party on the winter solstice of 2012 would be a good start!
cheers
steven
Hey Steven, that sounds like a good way to live no matter what's coming or not coming! Here here!
Val, the Harmonic Convergence was in 1987, mid August.
I like Sciencegirl's point of view, that the winter solstice of 2012 will be "rather like most days. The End of the Universe for some. The Beginning of Everything for others."
Lacochran - yep we ARE living in exponential times, definitely. Cool vid.
The change in climate accompanies all evolutionary leaps, by the way. Not excusing our role in changing the climate, just sayin'.
Sceptically interested here!I guess that is called being open to possibilities. Guess I will pull up a picnic rug, charge my glass, and wait for the show to begin. :D
Neat...i am sure there will be a big budget Hollywood flick '2012'coming out soon, starring Arnold !
Speaking of 2012, 2010 is right around the corner, and another great movie and book, 2010, will be proved technologically premature. Arthur C. Clark was off by a few dozen years, i guess.
Tom I believe there already is a film called "2012" - at least I landed on a movie site when I was googling 2012.
and I thought the Harmonic Convergence was the music played by the spaceship in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".
you make an interesting point about people connecting in completely new ways. I wonder what primitive man thought when first glimpsing hieroglyphics?
We are overpopulated and killing ourselves. I touched on that in my Theme Thursday write for tomorrow. Too many people, too little time...
The earth does change dramatically -
every 24 hours it does a complete loop...
I think thats enough ...we don't need to wait for some date or an outside force or the alignment of the planets to find a better life.
We have the opportunity every 24 hours when we wake up and start afresh to create a better life...
Am I the only one that doesn't have a clue what is supposed to happen in 2012?
I'm not much for specific dates and big happenings. I didn't prepare for 2000. I agree that things happen in time, not all at once.
As for energy - there is something happening. I'm just not sure what. But it is palpable.
i don't know about the 2012 solstice, clearly out of the loop on this one.
i do wonder, too, though about the effects of all this interpersonal networking - its got to be a good thing doesn't it?
Yes, Earth time is a lot slower than Human time. Just like a doctor saying he'll be back in a little while means, to him, two hours, to me 10 minutes. Point of reference.
Not to mention our pencil necks trying to hold up our 10 lb. cranial vaults. Any bigger head and anatomical mishaps would occur.
What you wrote expresses exactly how I it too. We look for spectacular movieland type transformations and barely notice the tiny shifts that add up to huge changes.
best to you, Reya.
Thank you Delwyn. You are so right that ...we don't need to wait for some date or an outside force or the alignment of the planets to find a better life.As for overpopulating, that's the way of nature. Every species is "invasive" given the right conditions to thrive.
And yeah, Ronda - our heads must not get any larger. We can barely be born as it is.
Something is happening with all these interconnections, something unprecedented. To me it feels like the earth is developing a more complex neural network. But what do I know?
In thinking about this some more today, I was reminded of the ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel who are trying to breed the perfect red heifer so as to be ready for the coming of the Messiah. They've been waiting for a long time and the cow is almost ready, but we really have so little control over the future. I'm too involved in what is going on today to even think about 2012! After the no-show of real problems as 2000 dawned, I predict we will slide into 2012 with the same ease.
This post reminded me of a book I've been meaning to read for a while.
I agree that Facebook, Twitter, etc. are all burning new neural pathways, but I don't know that's it's good. I think it might be making us less smart. Less able to make a cohesive argument. But it is leading to something "new" and we are changing ... and people who adapt will survive, I suppose. I've been struggling with this lately, too. It's what I was trying to get at here:
We are at the same time more connected and more isolated. More aware of each other and less together. We stand among each other and tell the same jokes, endlessly. We speak at each other. We generate content. We build our brand.
You bring out the best in our brains, Reya! I love this post.
The Mayans were so impressive with so much, no doubt, but I too remain skeptical, simply because I've become a "believe it when I see it" kinda person, especially with the whole Y2K drama. I spent a hopeful evening in New Orleans that night, and figured if the you know what hit the fan that was as fun of a place I could thing to endure it.
Rothko - I personally don't feel more isolated. I feel better connected with people far away, and more lovingly connected with the people I know here in DC. Do I still tell the same jokes? Actually I don't think I do!
What I know for certain is that without the internet hook ups I wouldn't know you or Hammer or Lacochran or KOB or Suicide Blond, etc. I'm so glad I DO know all of you.
"Good" for us? "Bad" for us? What's the difference?
Hammer what about this book? I read a little bit on Amazon. It's fiction, yes? Please explain.
I attempted to explain in this post my take on the 'beginning of a new 26,000-year long era' and why there may be more to it than just Y2K.
Do I believe? No. Do I hope? Yes, just like the rest of us, we all want things to happen like you have so eloquently explained.
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