During the holidays last year, we bought a fire pit at Home Depot that was on sale – half price, $45. It was a perfect fit for an area in the front of our house, a small sheltered three-sided courtyard to the right of the front door. We used it a lot in December, which was particularly cold. On the night of a lunar eclipse last December, in fact, we got up around three that morning, a friend of Megan’s brought over a telescope, we started a fire, and took turns peering through the telescope, watching the moon turn dark.
This December, the weather has been beautiful – high 70s or in the low 80s during the day, high 60s at night. Beautiful, but not cool enough to light fire. Tonight, though, the temp dropped into the low 60s, so Rob started a fire in the pit, and we sat outside warming our feet, the dogs and cats gathering around. Yes, okay, low sixties is a cold front for us (I can hear the laughter now), but there is something wonderfully primal about fire. It brings the muse out of hiding, triggers ideas and conversation. We talked about various ideas that are brewing for books, a game app, and a divination system we’ve been playing around with for several weeks.
We realized that part of this divination system involves the elements – air, water, earth – and fire. But while we were discussing what these elements meant in terms of the divination system, we realized the fifth element in this scheme of things is metal, the alchemist’s tool, turning metal into gold, a symbol for personal transformation.
As we approach 2012, personal transformation seems to be key. Even though we don’t buy into the doomsayer notion that the world will end on December 21, 2012, we do feel that the collective consciousness is shifting, that a new paradigm is being born. It hasn’t reached a tipping point yet, but when it does, there will be no turning back.
As I peered into the fire, I could see elements of this shift that are already underway. According to NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration- the combined global land and ocean average surface temperature was the 12th warmest on record. The September – November worldwide land surface temperature was 0.87°C (1.57°F) above the 20th century average, the seventh warmest such period on record. The January – November worldwide land surface temperature was 0.84°C (1.51°F) above the 20th century average — the seventh warmest such period on record.
Take a look at this map and it’s obvious the planet is in flux, and not necessarily in a positive way for humanity. And it’s not just the erratic weather. It’s the wars, politics, the haves and the have nots, all the issues the Occupy movement has pinpointed. Tonight on 60 Minutes, for example, we watched a really heartbreaking segment on what’s happened to neighborhoods in Ohio that were hit hard by the housing meltdown.
One Ohio city has so many abandoned homes – where owners have simply walked away because their mortgages were underwater – that the city is now demolishing them. The banks evict the owners, then the properties just sit there, the places falling apart as vandals move in and strip aluminum sidings, pipes, even the kitchen sinks. And this is happening all over the U.S. In our neighborhood of perhaps 35 homes, there are several that have been abandoned for months, doors hanging by hinges, windows broken, overgrown yards a paradise for rats, and the banks do nothing. The houses and the properties surrender to entropy.
Institutions we took for granted ten years ago are in chaos. Countries are in financial meltdowns that threaten the world economy. Hatred, racism, and religious extremism are on the rise. An entire generation is being shortchanged as unemployment rises. Just recently a study in the U.S. found that one in two Americas are either poor or underpaid. Fifty percent.
And yet. We each live within our own little worlds and aren’t impacted by this all at once. Here and there, we take hits, we recognize the abrupt and irrevocable changes, and we adapt. We focus, create the opportunities we need, and move forward. Our daughter, for instance, has been working at a minimum wage job since she graduated from college last June. She has applied for numerous jobs in the field she loves – working with animals – and recently landed an internship at Disney, beating out 600 other applicants.
There are opportunities for personal growth within this paradigm shift. It’s when the law of attraction may work the best. The contrasts are so glaring, so obvious that we know what we don’t want – and do want.
I suspect we’ll be using the fire pit a lot more for brainstorming sessions. No telling what nuggets may emerge.
Those Mayans were really something special. Just imagine if someone had told you 20 years ago: the year 1992 will be the year of tectonic changes. This time there is something creepy and dynamic around the corner.
On first thoughts those temperatures you have seem perfect but, then again, I do like the seasons and the changes they bring. My favourite is when Spring arrives – and this is much like our time on Earth. Life is change, nothing stands still: Winter – Spring – Summer – Autumn (Fall). I don’t think we should fear this. I see 2012 as the beginning of a new Cosmic Day or Season. I see this as being positive once we realise the bigger picture of what it heralds.
San Diego is much like Lauren describes Tucson: Many tumbling newer homes. Coyotes and mountains lions are moving in closer to the city. We also have allot of homeless, because the weather is suppose to be warmer here in Southern Cali. This year it’s been cold (with 20 inches of snow 10 miles away). Daytime high today: 56.
Our condo complex one of the first ever built (early 60’s) and we now have over 25% default rate. Some units have black mold because the banks won’t maintain them… and this effects the rest of the building. The banks don’t pay Home Owners fees, and the HOA board needs the money to maintain the grounds.
Personally, our income has decreased by 50% since 2008, even with 3 incomes. We can’t afford our health insurance starting Jan 1. My doctor tells me it is like this for increasing numbers of her patients.
I am acutely aware that we could be one of the couples living in their car in this neighborhood (we don’t have extended family to rely on).
When any system melts down, there is a chaos before things resettle. I view the chaos as containing possibilities that a rigid structure doesn’t have. For me, the possibilities bring hope that Americans can write a new stories.
It seems the situation with housing is similar all over the country, with neighborhoods decaying, homes abandoned, and the banks refusing to do anything to the properties which they, technically, own.
I’m hoping we can all write new stories!
12/21, whether in a few days or next year is the Solstice, the “return of the light”, and the birth of the new sun. I think that’s a pretty wonderful metaphor for the birth of a new era. What you write here is so true, the systems are melting down, we’re not sustainable, new ways have to be born, new stories, new ways to live on the earth and with each other.
Tucson is also full of rotting houses, even as so many people are homeless on the streets, families living in their cars, making it to Tucson for the winter because at least they won’t freeze to death. The waste is so crazy.
Return of the light: that’s a metaphor of hope, for sure.
Well put, Lauren, and the bipolar US Congress is more concerned with protecting the rich rather than giving the middle class $1K tax rebate or extending unemployment compensation for those out of work.
It is currently 33 degrees here, lol! No snow, however. A bummer for family traveling from Portland to Reno to ski over the holidays.
I totally agree there is a paradigm shift taking place. I also agree we are not quite there yet. It is also the perfect time to use creativity to expand opportunities. When you have nothing to lose, the sky is the limit.
I’m reminded of the 45 minutes I was able to be in my Shamanic retreat before having to leave due to a coughing fit. She set a candle with a flame in the middle of the circle and said it was our fire, she said it had a grounding quality and created a base for what was to come. Your fire pit sounds exactly like that candle. A place to sit and stare and come up with new ideas.
2012 is going to be a great year.
2012 is shaping up to be a much better year. I love the fire idea that the shamanic retreat used, nancy.
So excited for Megan! I hope it’s chilly enough for the fire when we come visit!
I appreciate and agree with the sentiment that the paradigm is shifting – anyone who can’t see that must be blind. I am not so sure what will happen on 12/21/2012, but I feel like something might…we’ll just have to wait and see, right!