I saw an article today reporting that the virus was mutating. The tone of the piece was that of abject terror. It was filled with statements built to push the panic button in the minds of those reading it. The solution offered? Out and out warfare. Measures that would annihilate the virus, and therefore, restore health. Along with peace of mind.

Sounds good. Just get rid of the offending organism, and all will be well.

Only…

What this piece failed to tell its readers is that viruses, like all forms of Life, constantly, continuously and naturally mutate in order to adapt to the current environment. This is to be expected. This is biological truth. This is a survival mechanism built into everything that is alive. Something that is constantly going on both around us, and within us.

But this is hard for us to be with. We want to be in charge. We want to be the ones controlling what Life does. We want to be the ones wiping out what we don’t like or are afraid of. This is “normal” and to be expected. But it is pure arrogance, ignorance and fear that drives this behavior. Producing in the end all manner of negative consequences we never thought to consider or saw coming.

But we do have our cautionary tales that if paid attention to could guide us as we step forward. We have already seen the virulent superbugs that have mutated into something we cannot treat due to our over-use of antibiotics and hand sterilizers. So deadly that 14,000 people a year die of impossible-to-treat infections that they picked up in the hospital.*

So when we are considering what we are up against now in the form of a virus, if we look at numbers, what we find is that those of us who have succumbed to the virus, or have struggled the hardest with it, have been deeply and alarmingly out of balance. Have been living with chronic, often lifestyle-related conditions that weaken us and leave us more susceptible to things like a virus; which then comes in and tips the scales of a system already dangerously out of balance and at odds with itself.

And because we are at odds with ourselves, we are therefore at odds with every form of Life that surrounds us. Given this, it would seem that the wisest, most visionary course of action would be one that would address the underlying root causes of these chronic, life-depleting and soul-sucking imbalances. An approach that would bring people back into balance, leaving them less susceptible to a virus because they were no longer serving as a drained and ravaged host.

But because our modern day epidemics of life-style related diseases, autoimmune problems and chronic conditions have become our new normal, have become so widespread and commonplace, we fail to recognize these deep states of imbalance as being not only the problems that they are, but also the root of future problems.

Consider this. What do you believe would be more difficult to do? Fight a virus? Or address the causes of the chronic conditions that cripple our world? For as difficult as it is to be living as we are now with all of the fears and the restrictions, it is nothing compared to the energy that it would take to go back to the drawing board and change the way we are living.

Changing a collective way of Life is a tall order. But as always, all you have to do, is do you.

Where is your life out of balance? Do not seek the answer to this through the intellect. Go to your body. Go to how it feels to be alive. Are you exhausted? Addicted to something? Unhappy? Unfulfilled at work? Unseen in a relationship? In pain? Do what you can to address this and you will not have to live in fear of your own body. You will not have to live as if a virus is a kind of diabolical serial killer from the microbial world out to get you.

Just like us, the virus is trying its best to stay alive. To simply live. Therefore, could we learn to be the best mutators of all? Willing to adapt ourselves back into balance with all that is around and within us; thereby rendering the impact a virus has on us, less impactful.

Intelligence is inherent in everything that is here. Wise ones have been telling us that since the dawn of time. Even medical science is finally catching up. But for all of us to catch up, we have to make a shift, an internal mutation if you will, where we let go of the falsehood that the human prefrontal cortex is the highest form of intelligence. This requires recognizing that there is Intelligence out there far more knowing than we currently behave. And that to learn to align with that, is to be truly wise.

We are part of something. Something we have been fearing, underestimating and demonizing, as opposed to living in harmony with. But maybe, just maybe, we can learn through a virus; letting it teach us all something about how to live in accord with others.

The Microbiome Solution: A Radical New Way To Heal Your Body From The Inside Out by Dr. Robynne Chutkan A great, accessible and practical read on learning about the world of microbes that we live with. Lots of fantastic recipes as well.

I have been thinking a lot lately about power. Who has it. How it is accumulated. How it moves. What it looks and feels like. For to be in a position of power is to influence. It is to control. It is to have authority over. It is to determine. It is to be sovereign.

Given the life-giving or life-denying impact power has on us individually and collectively, it would be wise for us to explore its role in our lives. As in, who has it and who doesn’t. As in, how one gets it, and what it is that we are truly going for here.

To understand power more fully requires going to what lies behind it all. In other words, what’s the motivation for what’s being done? Or required. Seems like as good a place as any to determine for ourselves whether what is in power is in fact in one’s best interest, and the best interest of the common good, or not. For there is a vast and life-altering difference between power distorted and power authentically come by.

Here’s what I have come to so far:

Power distorted is concentrated, self-serving, and exclusive.

Power that is authentic shares itself, considers the whole, and is inclusive.

Distorted power separates, forces, and demands the status quo be upheld.

Authentic power brings us together, invites, and dares to walk in the unknown.

Power coming from distortion derives from without and imposes from the top down; demanding control and domination while insisting on obedience.

Power coming from an authentic source springs from within and grows from the bottom up; seeking consensus and partnership while claiming sovereignty.

Distorted and coercive power manipulates the lower survival centers of the brain through its messages of fear, while authentic power speaks to a kind of Truth within that reverberates through every single layer of us.

Look around at what is happening now. Feel it in your bones. Sense it in your guts. Look for it under your skin. Do you know the difference between a power that takes advantage of your fears, and one that seeks only your highest good and what it is that truly heals?

If not, get help. Help around how to tell the difference between real and imagined fears. For if you would like to contribute at this moment in time, this is one of the greatest contributions you will ever make. For when you can determine for yourself what it is that you will believe in, and what it is that you will not, you will find your way to authentic power, rendering distorted power, obsolete.