Elemental Arts

Together We Rise

by Ram Krishan Kaur

As I sit here on this unusually cold September morning with my son nestled in my chest, with a warm cup of tea, and a candle burning, I am transported to my post partum days where warmth nursed me back to wholeness. The process of childbirth is not an easy one to say the least, it’s a miraculous feat of incredible strength and endurance that often leaves a new mother feeling elated and depleted at the same time. Warmth is of paramount importance to nourish the new mother as she, in turn, nurses and nourishes the new life that is now completely dependent on her. When a new mother doesn’t receive the warmth and nourishment of a supportive community, of warm nourishing foods, of tender love and care, it can almost always lead to a mother feeling “left out in the cold”, depleted, isolated, and depressed which often translates into her baby feeling the same.

The same way, I contemplate the state of our world today. As Mother Nature is showing us- much like a new mother would, in similar circumstances, erupt in rage or fall into depression- she has been deeply neglected and the proof is in the fires that are raging in places like California and Oregon and in a September day with snow. We’ve never seen this before, but much like a new mother, our Mother Earth is crying out for loving care and attention. If we continue to lend deaf ears to her cries, we will only see things become more and more polarized and her children, us, become more and more affected by her depletion. When a mother thrives, her child thrives. When our earth mother thrives, her entire creation thrives. When her children thrive, the future generations thrive, and that is how life continues to thrive. It’s a sacred law of reciprocity that is ingrained in the very fabric of the blueprint of creation. When we deviate from the natural design and laws of nature, all of life suffers.

So here we are, 6 months into a global pandemic that has further polarized us as a global COMMUNITY, we are masked up, afraid of one another, and divided over political ideologies and feeling more isolated and depleted than ever. Although the pandemic has brought many things into the light and shifted around our priorities, we are still trying to work in a system that is keeping us disconnected and depleted. As human beings, we thrive as a community. We are social beings that require closeness and warmth to thrive. Many studies have shown that the human life expectancy is increased by having loving social interactions. Our immunities are strengthened as a tribe. Families have been separated by the necessity of the parents having to go out and work leaving their children to the care of others as they scramble around to try to make enough money to make ends meet. In the meantime, the most fundamentally important relationships are being fragmented and we are seeing children grow up into adults who don’t really know what the warmth and love of a family truly is. We have communities separated over political ideologies, we have mothers sitting in their offices newly post partum with their uteruses still bleeding from childbirth and deeply grieving the separation from their babies, working for a company, trying to make ends meet for their families. I don’t know if you are getting the picture that I am painting, but there is something deeply and fundamentally out of alignment with the way that we are subscribing to life.

As I sit here with the warmth of my son’s body against mine, I am reminded once again of how life nourishes life. Of the importance of the warmth of human connection. Of how when we take care of what really matters most, we are allowing for the continuation and thriving of life. Of the fact that we are intrinsically connected and interdependent and that when the health and wellbeing of one suffers, we all suffer.

I am grateful for the opportunity to create our dreams into reality. To be a part of an amazing community of people who are choosing to do life differently and are striving for a vision of a whole, healthy, thriving planet. Who are striving for the vision of a way of life that places the family as #1 and who are dedicated to the vision of creating a world where all of life can thrive. Before the birth of our son right before the outbreak of Covid, my husband was working non stop. Although he worked from home, he was constantly unavailable. He has been able to be a part of our son’s life from the beginning and hasn’t had to miss out on watching our son smile for the fist time, roll over for the first time, sit for the first time, crawl for the first time, and now, stand for the first time. We have shifted our priorities and are creating a life where we can be more financially sovereign to manifest a life where we don’t have to leave our children, where the family is most important and where we can do our part in creating a better future for our children and our planet.

We are currently being birthed a new. Our current paradigms on earth are shifting and we need the warmth and support of community and a vision to birth us into our new life. Much like a new baby who is dependent on its mother to thrive who is in turn dependent on her community to thrive, we too are dependent on one another and the vision of a new earth to usher in the type of life we wish to create for ourselves and our planet. Our earth mother needs us to do so, our children depend on us to do so, our ancestors prayed for us to do so, and the future generations are counting on us to do so.

The state of our world today is a mirror into the state of our collective psyche which has become fragmented and divided by the deviation from our original design and the original instructions that we received as a human race. As we shift the internal paradigm back to wholeness, our external reality will reflect wholeness as well. The shift begins with each and every one of us. At this point in time where we are more disconnected and isolated than ever is when we need the warmth and nourishment of community more than ever. Together we rise.