I was asked to share my insights for 2021 during a gathering of Global Peace Initiative of Women ( previous blog introduces GPIW)
As it was not recorded I will try to write it down
If I meditate on my insights
for 2021
I need to come back to exactly one year ago. Almost exactly one year ago we all, all over the world, heard more or less simultaneously the “sound” of a “ HUGE Mindfulnessbell “
Suddenly we were all
asked to stop, to breathe, to look deeply, to let go and to come back to ourselves right here and now…no escape possible, we all just had to stop…
My husband Tho and me were about to fly to Vietnam on the 10th of
March 2020 and we cancelled our journey just two days before even though at that time travel was still possible.
This is what we wrote to our friends and partners in Vietnam:
“WE have decided to postpone
our journey. It is not motivated by fear, but to contribute to the world-wide effort to protect the most vulnerable ones, by not contributing to spreading the virus. In this time of crisis, it is important to be aware of our motivation; fear is not the appropriate
response and motivation, but global compassion and care for the vulnerable members of society is a precious motivation.
It is also an opportunity to slow down, to consume less, travel less, meditate and read more. Maybe life gives us the chance for a
global retreat time, let’s take it as an opportunity for inner and global transformation.”
That’s exactly what we did…we took it as an opportunity: we slowed down, we consumed less, we travelled
(MUCH MUCH ) less, meditated more, walked in nature more and read more
Funnily enough at that time when we cancelled our journey, we did not yet think of ourselves as being part of those who are “vulnerable”…we
thought this were the elderly, the sick people…and we did not feel we were part of this group, but we were willing to participate in protecting them.
But slowly we realized, yes, we actually All are vulnerable, we all can get sick,
we all will sooner or later hopefully be part of the elderly ( and yes Tho and me are already in this category according to Covid guidelines) and we all will die one day …in this we all are ALL the same, all over the world…We are all in this
together!
So my first insight and wish for 2021 is to continue the practice the Mindfullness bell. The practice of stopping of coming back to ourselves of being in touch with our breathing, our inner life with what
is in and around us.
Stopping, taking care of ourselves, taking care of those we love taking care of our homes, taking care of who and what is close to us becomes a radical practice in our distracted and superficial times.
Second insight is our Interdepence with all other humans and living beings on this earth.
We know many people got sick, many died, many lost their livelihood, many were worried,
During 2020 we were all
reminded of our mortality of our common fragility …
this insight can bring about humility, solidarity, compassion and tenderness to our human condition.
We all realized that we DO NOT HAVE everything under control !
Remember
all our plans, our many “important” projects …we all had to let go, constantly adapt, let go again and we all had to learn to get comfortable in this uncertainty
We also were reminded through simple practices like
washing hands, that we are responsible for each others wellbeing…Taking Care of Myself We take care of Each Other. Now we could practice this in every encounter on a daily basis.
And the third insight is our deep connection with
Mother Nature herself.
Tho and me, went for walk in nature EVERY day during the whole of 2020 until today.
It is not enough to think, talk about protecting nature,
With Eurasia we created biodynamic farms and ecological
projects in Vietnam, but this year we were reminded how important, how vital it is to create a relationship with Mother Nature, to talk to her, listen to her, BE with her, feel and perceive her, take time for her, to learn from her as a daily concrete practice
Those of you who are my FB friends you must have enjoyed our many photos of our daily walks. We always knew that we lived in a beautiful area...but this year we could really re-discover its beauty, the whole year around...and be present to Nature's daily
changes through the 4 seasons! It was the first time since 25 that we were only in one timzone during a full year! What a delight to see the creativity and beauty and impermanence, yet faithfulness and resilience of nature!
Coming back to oneself
Caring for others
Caring for Nature
Is also what we have been promoting with Eurasia in our happy School program over many years and now this year we were able to put these practices in action in a humble but very concrete way in our
own daily lives.
Our world somehow became smaller, our contacts less distracted, yet our Love bigger because we take the time to look deeply, listen deeply, be deeply with ourselves, with those we love and our beloved Mother Nature.
This Christmas we had the incredible priviledge to spend a full week with family in the mountains! 12 people together, imagine! This sounds extraordinary these days! We were so happy! We suddenly realized the preciousness to be able to be together, healthy
and joyful...every moment was like a jewel!
I hope we will all realize the preciousness of being alive with all our friends, spiritual friends and families on this precious planet!