Somewhere in between the ethers and the earth our personal and collective identities become intertwined with the trauma unfolding within and around us.
Having an intimate relationship with ourselves is difficult enough without having to relearn this art with others. Our vulnerabilities become even more compromised, as does our personal space.
Our perceptions of ourselves, the roles we play within our families and societies are responding to an inner and outer crisis where reality is skewed at the moment. Time is out of alignment for most of us, paradigms in which we have operated from emotionally, physically and spiritually no longer carry the same weight as they once did. The illusion is for real. Hard to believe but how we see and value ourselves is changing with each moment that passes and the person we see in front of the mirror may not be as recognizable. As we begin to experience life in new ways, our responses and reactions to those experiences, and to the emotions and thoughts surrounding them will be different. They have to be or you might find yourself struggling more than you did before. How can we understand and appreciate intimacy when we can’t even find our center in the midst of this global crisis? Looking at your children or partners have some wondering, “Who are these people in front of me?” As though it is the first time meeting their acquaintance. What would intimacy even look like? How vulnerable a question.
Our vulnerabilities leave us teetering on the brink of power struggle. Our need for intimacy gets brushed aside as we concern ourselves with protecting the identities that made us who we are today. The thought of being without an identity leaves us empty, wandering the map of our souls in search of something that never really left us. The plethora of emotions that gets triggered projects itself into the many relationships we have formed and will also become internalized. Intimacy becomes scarce as we ravage the universe to fulfill a need that we think will make us whole. All the meanwhile, humanity could not be closer at the moment working through this crisis even though we are feeling so separated from those perceptions of who we thought we were. I am going to repeat that. Humanity could not be closer at the moment working through this crisis even though we are feeling so separated from those projections of who we thought we were.
Intimacy is taking on new meaning. Our need for it is also being redefined in ways we might have never expected. Our vulnerabilities are being challenged but so is our capacity to hold space for each other while evolution molds our identities into something greater than our prior understandings. If we try to capture the definition in the midst of a power struggle, we will not be successful in our endeavors and it will only create more stress within those bonds we hold sacred. The power struggle needs to be silenced for us to appreciate the dynamic unfolding within every person around us. Our needs have to be reevaluated. Our identities have to be abandoned so new ones may enter into the realm of possibility. Intimacy will happen. It already has. You just may not experience it if you keep holding on to the person you thought you were before this pandemic took hold of our world.