Years ago I heard social visionary Barbara Marx Hubbard give a conference keynote address that has stayed with me every day since. She explained how those of us living now have a greater responsibility for the world than any previous generation, because for the first time in history we are creating with the awareness that we are creating. She said we can no longer hide behind “not knowing” why things are happening in the world, pretending that we don’t see our power to make different choices, both individually and collectively. As much as I agree with what she said, yesterday, as I heard the heartfelt tributes to our war veterans, knowing that horrific wars are still going on in the world, I had to acknowledge a major challenge in her premise. It’s like we have learned nothing.
With awareness comes responsibility, yes, but the problem is that people are still shockingly unaware of their own influence in life – even the people with shelves filled with “spiritual” books, even people who appear to be doing pretty well. We have an epidemic of people going through the motions of life feeling slightly out of control, feeling not good enough, feeling scared, sad, angry, worried, stressed about time, money, relationships, work and all kinds of other stuff, trying to do their best, oblivious to their own power to create whatever they want in life. Seriously – with people walking around with mini-wars going on inside of themselves is it any wonder we still have bigger wars going on in the world?
Nowhere is lack of awareness of personal power more visible than in people’s homes. Trust me – I see it all the time. People are living in various levels chaos (visible and not), in the very place where they have the most control in the world, without knowing how to change it. That’s why I love my HouseHeal teaching. HouseHeal teaches people healthy awareness every day at home – an awareness that not only stays, but continues to grow and brings incredible change with relative ease. I always warn people at the beginning of class – don’t be here if you are not prepared to take on responsibility for your life, because once you know what I am about to show you, there is no turning back. You will no longer be able to pretend that you don’t know the power you have.
Barbara Marx Hubbard is right – with awareness comes responsibility, but we need a lot more people with awareness. When more people truly understand their power to create for themselves we will see more change in the world. I know deep in my heart that if each of us can simply create a home filled with love, kindness, peace and beauty, it will have a huge impact on the world. Peace in the world begins at home.
If you want more peace, kindness, love and beauty in your home I invite you to experience my new in-person course HouseHeal into Practice starting in Toronto in January.
