Birthing Change in the World [Free Verse Version]

The world is pregnant with change

          swollen

          heavy-bellied with change

Deep into labor

         panting

pushing

nail-digging labor

But the labor is stalled

The change-baby stuck a-birthing

The world needs a midwife

          many midwives

          idea-midwives

          change-midwives

To ease the world into the best position

          to bring forth change

You can be a midwife

          unafraid to get your hands deep in the process

          manipulate the pressing-down head of change

You can be a doula

          a helper

          a holder

          in a sisterhood of change

Cradle the Earth gently

          hold her trembling legs

          encourage her

          You can do this!

The most difficult stage is right before birth

          the terrorists

          the crazy candidates

          the suicide bombings

Are all just contractions

          waves pushing positive change forward

          waves must be ridden

                             tamed

                             survived

          so they can propel the change-baby forward

At last change will crown

          the most painful stage of all

The midwives right in the thick of it

          hands covered in blood

          sticky with birth-fluid

          catching the change-idea as it bursts forth

          making sure it is still breathing

          making sure it survived

its long difficult passage

into existence

          ready to resuscitate it

                   breathe more life into its lungs

                   caress it briskly

                   use their hands to restart its heart.

Then the change-baby

          can take its first crying breath in this world

Then the change-midwife

          can place the change-idea

          back on the breast of Mother Earth

          handing it back

          to the millions of souls who birthed it

          now they can nourish it

          bring it into existence in their own lives

And everyone smiles

          laughs in delight

          cries a little bit

                   or a lot

          never forgetting the labor they went through

          to hold this change they have birthed.

Be a midwife of change

          bringing new ideas and change into the world

Be a doula

          encouraging and helping others

          through the throes of change

Be willing

          to bloody your hands

          and rend your heart and soul

          to bring forth the change

          the world desperately needs

to create.    

Remember....

Forbidden Sorcery by Gabriele Negri (flickr) Creative Commons License

Remember

          who you once were

Wild

          not domesticated and living in boxes

Free

          not bound by chains of debt and obligation

Independent

          not serving so many others you have lost yourself

Strong

          not beaten down by life

Aware

          not mind-dulled by a constant stream of useless information

Primal

          in touch with the world around you

Tribal

          not living alone

          not feeling alone

          not fighting the world alone

Listen

          as the wind whispers in your ear

Hear

          the voices of your ancestors singing in your blood

Fight

          against those who will enslave you

Resist

          those who try to divide isolate you

Know

          that there is more to life than this

Find

          the ones who will stand at your back

Seek

          the primal knowledge that was once known by all

Answer

          the call of the Thornwood.

Age of Invisibility

Something's Missing by Allison Rose

I have entered the age of invisibility. Having passed my shiny hair and perky boobs, Cosmo-girl days, and then my young-mother days, I've moved into the graying-hair and carrying a few extra pounds days.

With it comes a cloak of invisibility. People literally no longer see me on the sidewalk or waiting in line at a store. People no longer speak to me in that flirty, warm way they have when they are trying to "get to know you."

Oh, there is one exception to the cloak of invisibility--people who are lost and need directions. To them I must exude a friendly librarian "safe" vibe that says I won't rob them or send them off into a bad neighborhood.

Instead of lamenting this change in my appearance, I'm trying to appreciate it. To cultivate it. To use it to my advantage. If I appear safe and non-threatening to everyone, this makes blending into the background much easier. It makes acting the Charade much easier. If you are unnoticed then you are free to work your magic, for the most part, because few people will suspect you of being the creator of changes around you.

The LIE Around Us...and the Thornish Way Around It

The world around us is a LIE.

It is a lie designed to keep us enslaved.

It is a lie designed to keep us forever struggling, constantly on edge, and feeling inadequate.

It is a lie designed to strip away your power.

It is a lie designed to make you believe that everything is scarce, to force you into competition with everyone else because THEY know if we work together we can overthrow the system.

There are more of us than there are overseers to imprison us.

But what is the answer? How do we escape? How do we escape the hamster wheel?

The answer is TRIBE.

Tribe. Community. Whatever word you choose to use for like-minded folks working together.

Once you recognize the LIE for what it is, you begin to awaken to other realities. Once you have seen the other realities, and the man-behind-the-curtain truth of our current mundane world, you can never look back to the innocence of days when you did not know.

Once you have seen through the lie, you begin to realize how so many people are simply hollow-eyed herdlings, following the rules, doing what they are told, dancing to the whims of those in power. They become distracted by the bread and circuses, by the Trumps and the sports teams and the Kardashians and high fashion and Game of Thrones and whatever else is being dangled before them as the Popular and Important Thing of the day.

We of the Thornwood cannot afford to be distracted by these things. We need to look beyond, to look forward, to look sideways, to find coyote-paths around the obstacles in front of us. Ours is a way of Balance, of strength, of knowing-beyond-knowing. Of gathering and waiting, of watching and exploring.

The Thornish Path is a way of patience, of knowing when to speak and when to play the Charade. It is not the way of the ox, plowing forward, disregarding all discretion. The Thornish Way is the way of the coyote and the raven. We seek the way over, under, around, and hiding in plain sight.

The time is now. Awaken to the LIE. See it for what it is. Once you see beyond the lie, you will begin to see the ones standing in the shadows, watching and waiting...