Home. Such a small word, yet it is full of so many big meanings. Each of us has a unique definition, a set of requirements that come together to give us that sense of comfort and ease. It can mean anything from the physical structure of a house to a hometown, a homestead to a home country.
This summer, forest fire consumed my world.
On a dry, hot day in early July there were 49 lightning strikes in our region, and suddenly we had to evacuate our home. Simply stated, it doesn’t sound that bad; the logistics of it, however, were daunting. We had to move a family with three dogs and seven horses, with no warning and no prep. We had no idea where or how we would be living. With limited space in our vehicle, we had to pick and choose what to take, and not knowing if our home would burn down made this challenging to say the least.
We were not allowed back to check on our place for just over four weeks. During our evacuation, the house was broken into and robbed, and our 13-year-old dog, who was already ill, died under the strain of smoke, travel, and being away from home. The frequency and intensity of the emotional highs and lows were heightened to almost unbearable levels – it was an extremely traumatic and eye opening experience.
This crisis shone a spotlight on who and what we value, which parts of our lifestyles we missed and which parts we were glad to leave behind. It stripped away layers of pre-tense and showed, without a doubt, who we are. I became aware that I am key to my children’s sense of home. While this wasn’t surprising to me, it really made me think about where I find my sense of home. It made me aware of how important it is for all of us to try to find home within ourselves, and to teach our children to do the same.
It can be difficult to maintain perspective and keep gratitude for the amazingly generous, supportive people surrounding us in these crisis situations. It can be difficult not to get caught up in downward spirals of negativity and fear.
These types of challenges are becoming all too common as we live in times in which the global threats from extreme weather, natural disasters, political instability, wars, and economic downfall alone are staggering. On top of that, we each face individual problems; unplanned for events, sometimes catastrophic, are going to happen. At some time in all of our lives, we will be consumed by circumstances out of our control. We will lose sleep, we will be overwhelmed, we will be thrown out of our comfort zones. We can’t change the weather, we can’t control the disasters that rampage across our lands, and we can’t control the situations that throw us off balance.
What we can do however, is choose the role we want to play in the world, as it is now, and how we’ll move through our lives as these emergency situations arise. There will be times when we feel like we can’t withstand anymore – times when we struggle – and then we will adapt and keep on living. Some manage this more gracefully than others, but all we can do is muster up the strength to carry on as best we can each day.
Thankfully, our inner stability can be cultivated and strengthened.
If we stop looking at our surroundings and belongings as our home and our safe place, we start to see that wherever we are, we can carry our comfort zones within us. What really matters is how we feel, how we act, and how we treat each other. Our safe place becomes less about the material and more about living fully within ourselves, and in peaceful harmony with others.
The moments when we let go of worry and stress to find contentment within ourselves, are the moments when we realise the big picture, insignificant of physical location. We are happy to just be, to find the joy in the calm, despite the storms. To smile at the laughter of a child at the end of a stressful day; to dance freely in the first rainstorm after months of drought – these are the moments when we are grounded within ourselves and connected to the greater whole of the Universe.
When we are centred, we can receive the important messages and synchronistic events that will shape the next chapters of our lives. These moments of grace allow us the breakthroughs we need to carry on in an upward spiral and contribute to ‘the Longer Now’ spoken of by James Redfield in the Second Insight:
“This step in consciousness happens when we look back on the spiritual journey of humanity throughout history. We see that we are in a new phase of human progress. Humanity is now awakening from a materialistic worldview and moving into a new outlook that recognizes ‘spiritual design.’ This design rewards an attitude of helping others and making the world better. When we adopt this new world perspective, our soul’s dream, of our mission, comes to us, and we move toward this destiny by a near miraculous ‘Intuition and Synchronistic Flow.’ Thus, we are learning to make our way in the world by finding a spiritual connection and allowing ourselves to be guided. In this way, we’re discovering a more detailed understanding of how the world genuinely works. Together, with this insight, we can shape another historical era of inspirational life for generations to come.”
British Columbia’s wildfire season is the worst in recorded history and is far from over. Many of the larger fires show no signs of slowing down. It can be terrifying living in the middle of a crisis, with bags packed, never knowing what will happen from one moment to the next. It can be exhausting to feel so uncertain and displaced. Many people from around the world are facing similar situations. Fires, floods, and other disasters rattle us, but the sharing of hope and the solidity of people trusting in universal flow is what will see us through. As we move and work together in this changing world, we can choose to channel our energies towards the joy and the light.
In trying to stay in conscious spiritual alignment, for ourselves and others, we can consider if we truly believe in how we’re being in moments of stress and if we are happy with the version of our Self that we’re embodying. We don’t always have a choice about what is going on in our external environment, but we can always choose our mindset, and find comfort in love, the true home of our souls.