Our Collective Ego

“Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.” – Eckhart Tolle

“Words are things. You can put some words together and make people want to go to war. Put together another few words and make them long for peace. Words are so important, and this is what you take to God. Words.” – Maya Angelou

“The past is not the future unless you live there.” – Tony Robbins

When I was younger, I thought there was some force “out there” that I’d have to conquer so I could live a happy life. The battle ground was my mind and the weapons were the contradictory voices in my head. The conflicting voices said things like, “You can be anything you put your mind to. There isn’t enough abundance to go around, so you’ll have to fight for everything you get. There’s something inherently wrong with you. You are greatly loved. There will never be peace in the world.” On and on my thoughts swirled until I was weary of the contradictions. That’s when I intensified my spiritual quest. One of the most significant things I learned was about how the ego works. It’s a small, sneaky part of us that wants to be master over all we think, do and accomplish. But, the ego, while necessary to function in the physical world, is not the sum total of who we are.

After years of study, everything I’d learned about my ego was summed up beautifully by Eckhart Tolle in his best selling book A New Earth. The ego takes things personally and feels the need to defend itself, it likes to complain and find reasons to resent what it believes have been attacks on itself, it has to be right, it buys into the illusion that we are separate, and finally it uses the “us” VS “them” mentality. As I read the book, I could see how my ego had controlled my life and that I could break it’s control. What a relief it was to stop listening to it and follow the guidance of the larger part of me that is connected to God.

It hasn’t been easy, getting out of the clutches of my ego, but it has been worth it. The voices in my head are quieter now and I can feel my connection to the Divine and to everyone else much more clearly. What a relief. Until the outer world came crashing in around me.

Now, I’m not saying that what’s going on in the outside world has shaken my faith in my connectedness to all that exists. On the contrary, what’s been happening the last several years has confirmed that we’re connected, because I can’t ignore the pain, blame, struggle for supremacy and adherence to deeply held beliefs like “we’re right and they’re wrong and the past was better than our present,” that are the battle cries of those who live completely in their egos. You all know the differing points of view. I’m not the only one who’s tired of the conflict. I see these conflicts as a call to let go of the old ways and create something new.

Here’s what came to me today in my meditation. We’re going through a collective ego cleansing. We’re reaching critical mass. Millions of people are awakening to the fact that they’ve been slaves to their egos. Those who choose not to wake up, are fighting hard to keep conditions the same. They want the political, financial, national and religious structures to continue as they have for centuries. However, all the structures that don’t serve our awakening are crumbling and new structures will be built in their place.

The thing is this, everything we react to shows us patterns in ourselves that we need to dismantle. So, when I get emails that say, “We need to FIGHT…whatever it may be,” I say, “I don’t want to FIGHT, or RESIST the opposition. I want to be FOR healing, peace and to finding creative solutions to our problems.” And the way I do that is to ask the Divine: “How can I serve the collective awakening?”

Sometimes I think I should be out there in one of those arenas working toward a better world. But, the answer I keep getting is to write this blog and my novel. To keep teaching theatre classes that help my students take a deeper look into what it means to be human, and to encourage creativity in any way I can. That’s how I’m serving now. What I do isn’t very flashy, or important, but as we say in the theatre, “There are no small parts, only small actors.” Since I don’t want to be a small actor, I’ll do my best to make the most of my small contributions to putting our collective ego in its place.

Have you thought about how you are meant to serve? It may be something simple, yet vital, like raising well adjusted, loving children, or being a good friend. It might be creative like planting a beautiful garden that brightens the neighborhood, or writing poetry that touches people’s hearts. What it is doesn’t matter. What matters is that we each embrace our purpose, each day. Over the years, our purpose will change. That’s okay. Nothing ever stays the same, even though we’d like it to.

What is your vision of a better world and how can you bring it about?

© Lucinda Sage-Midgorden 2013