The Magic of 'Between Times'

Yesterday, as the sun crossed the equator, we were held momentarily at a still point between great heavenly revolutions as the Earth's axial tilt increased the rate of daylight change before and after the equinox. In the same way, tides are strongest before the turn. These ‘between times’ tend to be surrounded by perturbation - a metaphor for our world right now.

I find myself in a recurring conversation about the grinding tectonic plates of old paradigm and new; the struggle to let go of outdated ways of being and doing, and the creativity and courage it takes to reach new solutions. This re-shaping of our world is played out in the intimate spaces of life as much as in boardrooms and on global political platforms. It’s brutal and confronting; it brings up our ‘stuff’ and asks for heroic acts of humility and an almost super-human capacity for compassion and forgiveness. There’s no way around it, over it or under it. We have to move through it, and I sense that how we do so really matters. The tonality might just shape the future.

In case you’re feeling insignificant, let me point you to the proven theory of three degrees of influence. It states that each of us can influence our immediate friends and family, who in turn influence their friends, and so on; hence, our beliefs and actions may influence people we’ve never met, to whom we are only indirectly connected. It means that each of us is powerful in small but significant ways: through the actions we take, the decisions we make and the values we live by.

There’s an old belief that ‘between times’ are potent. If our Indigenous elders are right, we’re in transition between epochs right now. So, I’m pondering choices: sleepwalk into a future shaped by those currently claiming and wielding power - a future based on their dubious values and intentions, or a quiet revolution generated by a good many of the rest of us (it only takes the alignment of 3.5% of a population to create change) becoming really conscious about the energy we feed into life’s weaving through our thoughts, words and deeds. This kind of conscious change has transformed humanity before. Some argue that it is the only thing that can.