The greatest gift these times are giving us is the demolition of the illusion of safety. On the surface it sounds like a good idea, to feel safe. Everyone says safety is critical to our ability to be honest with ourselves and others, but when we are cushioned within the illusion of safety, what are we really being honest about? The sense of safety has already made us into liars, has already coopted the reality beneath the reality that we are willing to share.

The idea of being safe was never real. None of us are safe. Anything can happen in the blink of an eye to any one of us. Seeing this clearly, allows us to come face to face with the uncertainty, to acknowledge the incessant unrelenting interminable, muffled censored rejected screams within. It allows us to see the ways we brace for the next shoe to fall without actually naming it, the ways we pretend to be okay when we aren’t, the many ways we attempt to convince ourselves we’ve got this when we have no clue.

When at last we let ourselves see and feel what is real for us, we encounter possibilities previously unknown to us. We can finally step free of the prison cells we created and meet the demons we thought we’d caged.

Until we are willing … or forced … to admit that we are not, have never been, will never be, safe, we will sit inside our self-made prison thinking we are in control, believing we have succeeded in keeping our demons at bay, perhaps even that we have overcome them, beaten them into submission, but you see, we haven’t. We have only succeeded in building walls to keep them out, walls that actually wall us in, wall that give the illusion of safety as long as we stay within them, as long as we lock ourselves away from all that we crave: connection, love, compassion, acceptance of our entire self, recognition of what we are, what life is.

When we are trying to find a safe place to be, we argue with life, unwilling to live life on its terms, battling against its diverse expressions, reluctant to be here now with this moment as it is. It’s unsafe. It’s scary. It could be the death of us. Yes. It is. Yes. It could.

When you look at the people you follow, the gurus who make you feel good about yourself and life, they are likely the ones that give you a sense of control, a sense of safety, a sense of well-being. They rarely leave you hanging out of a window 20 stories up. That doesn’t sell well.

So, life is taking up the slack. Right now, it is demonstrating beautifully the inherent uncertainty, the absolute lack of safety. Some of you may run back to church, just in case. Maybe they were right after all. Some might listen more acutely to podcasts, to non-dual, to whatever it is that floats your boat, or perhaps you’ll try that health and wellness guru again. Maybe you’ll just go to bed and pull the covers over your heads.

But instead, maybe you’ll see the futility and simply surrender. Maybe this time it will be undeniable, and you’ll just let go into the flow of whatever is going to happen. Perhaps instead of scrapping, and hanging onto the fight, this time you’ll stop.

It’s a genuine possibility, if life has readied you to see. If not, enjoy the ride until the rollercoaster slows down, until it jerks to a stop with you at the top of the ride and all that’s left to do is enjoy the view. It’s coming. It can’t help itself. Life is nothing but the perpetual unraveling display of what THIS really is.

Image: WordPress AI by Amaya Gayle

Amaya Gayle is the author of 6 books, the latest Actuality; infinity at play, published by New Saram Press. https://amzn.to/3Rd4CTY