The Space Between

 

"Beyond the Human Species" by Patricia Albere

There is a “betweenness” to these consciousness-shifting times we’re living in, to borrow a phrase psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist used in his unique study of our divided brain and how each “hemisphere” shapes our perception. The author of The Master and the Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (2009) sees that the left and right hemispheres of the brain have competing visions of reality: the left hemisphere focuses on the details (good at organizing categories, not so good at seeing the whole, considered the male side of the brain); the right hemisphere focuses on the big picture (good at making connections between things, creating ideas, being empathetic, considered the female side.) Both hemispheres of the brain are essential, of course, and to be our most productive and compassionate selves we need a balance of both—the rational and the creative.

An example is McGilchrist’s scientific approach to explain music in which, simply put, the left hemisphere recognizes the notes, the right hemisphere recognizes the gaps, and it’s the gaps between the notes that make the music—the “betweenness.” It takes both sides, both hemispheres of the brain, working together to have harmony...in music and in life.

McGilchrist suggests we’re living in a world dominated by the left hemisphere—the part of us less likely to take the “humanistic view.” We see that occurring in our current angry, incendiary world. “Broadly speaking,” McGilchrist shared in an interview on Hidden Brain on National Public Radio (NPR), “the right hemisphere is more emotionally literate. It reads emotional expression, feels suffering…understanding another person’s point of view, what it feels like to be that person. However, there are some emotions that are more particularly associated with the left hemisphere. Perhaps the most striking one is anger, which happens to be the most lateralized of all emotions.” McGilchrist acknowledges this may be an over-simplification, but given the left hemisphere is always about accomplishing the immediate task in front of it, so “if it encounters any opposition, it’s dismissive, and it becomes enraged.”

We are a world out of harmony. And with no harmony, we have a compassion disconnect, empathy is lost. What will it take to bring our brains back into balance so the right hemisphere—the part more likely to take the “humanistic view”—can be a dynamic part of our world again? What will it take to create a world where we all live as though we truly believe, as Irish novelist Colum McCann once observed, that “an ounce of empathy is worth a boatload of judgment”; a world where we can live in the delicate, harmonic balance of “betweenness”—where being empathetic is as natural for human beings as breathing. How do we bring the feminine and masculine, the right brain and left brain, the entire human community back into balance? We’re all yearning for the inner peace that comes with a world in balance. Where do we find the opening? 

[continue reading "The Space Between" 

on Medium...]

"...thank God, a wedding!"

 The R/evolution Is Love (2011)

It was 2011 and things simply felt different. There was a buoyancy to the world’s energy. Even with disruption and strife, when I really listened in, there seemed a harmony inside it all, as though something else was becoming available, life being retuned. It felt true, like a sacred portal opening.

…………………….

I don’t remember when I first heard of the ancient Mayan calendar with its revelations that move beyond our sense of time, space, and beliefs, but I was intrigued by its historical accuracy. Developed by the highly advanced thinkers of Mexico’s Olmec civilization from the fifth century BCE, the calendar system is a complicated series of inscriptions, codes and glyphs. As Dr. Carl J. Calleman explained, it is a timeline marking the evolution of consciousness, in nine “waves,” from the beginning of time, 16.4 billion years ago, into the future.

The last phase of that future, the “Ninth Wave of Consciousness,” was activated in 2011 according to Dr. Calleman’s calculations. It marked the end of “old time,” signaling the age of new beginnings and based on this ancient almanac of sacred time, we are now living in that long-awaited future. And this “new time” arrived riding on a wave of dynamic energy — boisterous, open-hearted, and centered in unity.

In addition to major Earth events in 2011 (including a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima, Japan), “a massive protest movement began against the ruling order all over the world,” Dr. Calleman wrote, creating a tumultuous push for liberty, self-determination and freedom of expression. “The Arab Spring began with protests erupting over the globe, including the Occupy Movement in the United States and other countries.”

And there was a royal wedding! Or as Allison Pearson wrote in Newsweek that spring: “In a world gone to hell, thank God, a wedding!”

Throughout history, royal weddings have often been harbingers of change, seen as a unifying moment of coming together in gratitude and appreciation. But this royal wedding in Great Britain in 2011 marked a break in dutiful tradition with a message for the future: a future king of a thousand-year-old monarchy married for love. Instead of a business arrangement to acquire property, power, and prestige (and historically women were considered part of the property), this marriage was about a man and woman making a choice together — through love.

Even so, in these changing modern times, what was the big deal about a royal wedding in an outdated monarchy? The world was roiled in conflict between those attempting to bring a peaceful message of equality and those committed to a hierarchy of haves and have nots. And because we were all connected through a vast digital hook-up, discontent had a global voice. Therefore, some thought the universal excitement of a royal wedding seemed the year’s biggest anachronism.

Nevertheless, since royalty can be archetypal in nature, affecting change for the masses, the wedding and the relationship that emerged was revolutionary in its own right. As over two billion of us witnessed this grand yet intimate event celebrating the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the wedding rite of passage acted as an opening to bring people together, to feel more connected to each other in a divided world.

[...the article continues on Medium]