PopRocks Chocolate

PopRocks Chocolate

Saturday, March 12, 2011

The Inevitability of and Resistance to Change


The fourth translations of Wu Li is “I Clutch My Ideas.” This is appropriate to a book on physics since the history of science in general often has been the story of scientists vigorously fighting an onslaught of new ideas. This is because it is difficult to relinquish the sense of security that comes from a long and rewarding acquaintance with a particular world view.”


I'm struck by the inevitability of the change that is happening all around me. The tsunami/earthquake in Japan, the anti-union bill in Wisconsin and Indiana. It brings me to wonder why i'm not more actively participating in my own evolution. I mean, all these things are happening whether we participate or not, especially Mother Nature's growing pains...or are they death throes? Guess we'll find out. (I like to believe the Earth will outlive us longer than we've been a species walking upon her.) So yeah, my own evolution. I feel it intensely as the seasons move towards spring. Six months of living here and much has changed. The biggest change has come from not being in my physical yoga practice. I stress the word 'physical' because i've been deeply involved in a moment to moment mindfulness practice. It feels as if this 'mental' yoga has taken center stage to the physical because of the transition of moving to another coast and moving in with my boyfriend. A necessary practice as it is super helpful to be aware of what's mine and what is the other's when you are meeting new people all the time and meeting all the different sides of the person you've chosen to co-habitate with. A good friend of mine is in the midst of a move towards co-habitation as her boyfriend moves in to her open loft-style condo. What were the words she used? I only remember the sense of her anticipation, for better or worse.

Anyway, the lack of a yoga practice has been changing my body. I feel out of balance. Was it my imagination the other day and this morning looking at the noticeable differences in my right vs. left legs? I think of the challenge of re-building my body with a regular practice. I know it's possible. I've seen it happen. But am I strong enough? Am I strong enough mentally and emotionally for that kind of commitment. Compared to this, making the commitment to my partner and to a new home seems easy. Can I commit to moving towards my highest potential for health and wholeness? If change is inevitable, my physical form is going to change no matter what, why not help it reach health. The lack of healthy choices leads to transformation anyway though it feels the result of this option would be way less comfortable.

If change in the world that we live in is inevitable, why not make choices that are for health and wholeness? Why stick with the status quo? It seems irresponsible to pretend what we do and how we live can't affect change in the world though i'm working not to motivate myself negatively (thought pattern: you must make these changes for the good of the entire planet!). Mostly because there's no need for it...just as there's no need for negative political ads. Sure, it may work but it's way less comfortable. Although I just had a thought that for some, and certainly for myself at different times in my life, the discomfort of making an 'irresponsible' choice is less than the discomfort of the possiblity of failure to achieve wholeness.

What started this train of rambling thought was reading (in Gary Zukav's Dancing Wu Li Masters) about the enormity of different paradigm shifts in our history—like Newton's physics and Copernicus' proof the earth was not the center of the universe—and how almost everyone at the time couldn't believe that such a change is possible not because it couldn't be true but because of the implications on their way of life. These ideas changed everything! And in this day and age, all signs are pointing to a similar radical change in how we view our world. Quantum physics says that nothing exists and what we perceive as reality is really just fields of energy interacting. Our entire universe is simply the relationships of different fields of energy to one another. The world events we are experiencing as seemingly separate from ourselves are actually events that we relate to as individuals. So what does this mean for our relationship to ourselves? Are we brave enough to step into the new paradigm and make conscious choices for wholeness?

Thanks for reading my this rambling. Sometimes these thoughts interweave through my brain in ways that are difficult to grasp and I wonder if it makes any sense when I try to relate it in writing.