Heather Conn Blogs

On this full-moon night, a week since the solstice and supposed end of the world, I would like to acknowledge the power of transition and new beginnings. The Mayans weren’t predicting doom with the end of their calendar — instead, they recognized the start of a whole new cycle of humanity. In 2013, the Chinese year of the snake (a wonderful symbol of transmutation), I’m expecting soulful transformations at all levels, from individuals to organizations and even countries.

One important characteristic of this new cycle is that people will no longer experience a difference between their inner and outer worlds, according to psychologist and anthropologist Alberto Villoldo. He’s studied the healing practices of the Amazonian and Incan shamans for 25 years. He believes that we are moving into a time of unprecedented possibility, which will have tremendous consequences. He says: “[I]n the new cycle, you can only change the world by changing your inner life.”

Jurriaan Kamp, co-founder of international magazine The Intelligent Optimist, has said that this is a time of shifting from competition to collaboration. He writes: “We would live in a very different world indeed if our inner experience indeed matched our creations in the outside world. How many wrongs violate our conscience, yet persist?”

In the United States, the wealthiest nation in the world, one in six (a total of 50 million people) goes to bed hungry every day. Kamp says: “The overwhelming response to relief operations has so often demonstrated how committed we are to solving these painful problems. Yet the injustice continues.”

The union of our inner and outer worlds might sound like utopia, yet fundamental change is the scientific basis of life on earth. Our outmoded way of responding to our planet, as evidenced by climate change, cannot continue as it has. In Kamp’s words: “Systems theory teaches that healthy, resilient and sustainable systems are dependent on active participation by the units of which and for which the system exists.” In other words, we need to care about what’s happening around us and take action when we see injustice and abuse.

Cell biologist Bruce Lipton has said: “In many parts of the world, about half of the people (the dying poor in developing countries, the hungry Americans, the 50 percent unemployed youth in Greece and Spain) don’t even participate in the system. This makes the system weak and leads to its ultimate demise.”

Let’s make 2013 a year of conscious awareness and positive advocacy. Any system is only as strong as the people within it, yet one individual can have a monumental impact. Let’s follow our hearts and spirit, seeking guidance from within. If you feel prompted to speak out and take action, carpe diem! Change begins with each one of us.