Susan Dykes, LMT, CST, Writer, Speaker
Tagline: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” James Baldwin
Emotional baggage comes in all shapes and sizes. There is trauma caused when trust has been broken. Ridicule when you’ve tried your best, yet made others jealous. Then there is bullying that makes you believe you are, and never will be good enough.
These are simply a few of the childhood wounds so many of us grow up with. But it’s time to let go of those old wounds if we are to establish new belief systems.
Easier said than done for sure. Why? Because many of those old beliefs are stuck in the crevices of our cellular body/mind and many of those belief systems have gotten us to where we are today.
They have either forced us to grow up and take responsibility so we fight for our own cause and the mountain we climb, or they have depressed us into the state of doing nothing (waiting for someone else).
But the energies flowing in from the Universe are asking each one of us to acknowledge what it is that drives us forward or keeps us down. These planetary movements are attempting to usher in a new way of being for the whole, now simply a few.
You are part of that whole. You are one piece of a larger puzzle, someone who has to know what you stand for, what you believe in before the whole can shift into something bigger and better.
We see it on the news each day. Structures and systems within the outer world are under scrutiny for revision. What has been in place for many years, i.e. tax bases, pharmaceutical and healthcare, education, and politics that no longer serve a higher purpose are at the forefront of people’s hearts and souls. These instances of upset are asking us to look for a better way to help society maintain a focus on people rather than money, on the whole rather than a few.
But what is happening on the outside is also occurring on the inside of us. It is uncomfortable – like old clothes that no longer fit, the energies are pushing us towards letting go so we can walk a new path to something better.
And it is frightening. It makes us weary. And it has us wondering about the unknown of the future when we have lived so long with the past.
How Outer World Events Drive Inner Emotions
The outer world and all that is occurring is a bridge to our inner emotional state.
Pretend you have a landscape project you want to complete. The work is more than you can handle, so you solicit assistance from experts in the business.
You know people are busy, supply and demand are low/high, and it may take some time to accomplish your project. But what you may not expect is how many agree to look at the project, then fail to set a time, price, or schedule. What you may not expect is how many crews lose employees after promising the work. And you may not expect that those who set times to look never show or call.
Outwardly, you accept this as part of our world today. Many are doing the best they can with what they have. Inwardly, your frustration grows as structures fail, people struggle, and promises are broken.
Bitterness may set in. You begin to blame the world, the politicians, and the establishment, and you begin to resent the project altogether.
But is there an inner lesson to be learned? Do questions arise?
- Why will no one help me? Do I not feel worthy of assistance? (feeling of inadequacy)
- Why doesn’t anyone respond when I state my needs? Do I always have to yell before anyone hears me? (feeling of not being heard)
- Am I trying to control the situation for instant gratification? (asking too much without trusting the expert who might get the task done)
- Am I unwilling to receive help or have I set my energy so no one wants to help? (openness, always giving but closed to receiving)
- Do I trust others to assist me in this job? (faith, trust, pride, ego)
- Is the world falling apart? Is my inner self feeling disappointed, confused, exhausted, low on self-worth, unacknowledged, and deprived of love and attention?
Any of these questions challenge you to look below the surface for trauma from the past. Outside interference is bringing to you how you feel about yourself and the world – all in an effort to help you grow personally, as well as spiritually.
Cans of worms are opening on every front – each of us is being asked to find the root cause behind the demise. It begins within. Yet, in the world of chaos, it is easier to blame than recognize the lesson it is trying to teach us.
Outside events are the driving force to help you identify the complete package of any emotional trauma that surfaces from below.
So What Do You Do?
First, you identify the emotional baggage and trauma you have carried for so long. You accept that it is a part of you that wishes to be acknowledged, not with anger but with love.
Looking for the root cause is part of unraveling a domino of experiences along the way – experiences that continue to resurface because you have been afraid to open the hood and check the engine.
Everyone is experiencing old thought patterns and wounds. Maybe your own dreams reflect what you are being asked to relinquish, your fear is overpowering faith, and your comfort zone feels smaller and smaller. Maybe you feel like the caterpillar wishing to become a butterfly, yet you are stuck in the goo wondering how to be free.
Only through awareness, and acceptance can you change your past. They are stepping stones to any action you might take for what you can control, or what’s beyond your ability to change.
Awareness is the first step of forgiveness from the heart for those who caused you suffering (even if it was you who self-sabotaged). Acceptance means you cede the energy you’ve put into protecting yourself from the upset. Action shows you are ready to try something new.
It’s Not Easy – It Takes Time and Effort
Emotional cleansing is not an easy thing to do. I know, I’ve been there. I’ve walked the path to recapture the emotions that fall between zero and anger. And believe me, there are a lot of feelings in-between what you are upset about, the blame you project onto another, and the attitude that surfaces from the root emotion itself.
We’ve suppressed, repressed, tried to forget about anything negative that might have happened to us, and simply stay with the status quo. In other words, we’ve swept under the rug what we choose not to see.
But status quo is no longer working in the outside world, and it will no longer bring fulfillment to your inner self. A spiritual revolution is on the horizon.
Neither the world nor you as a piece of the puzzle move forward until each of us makes space for something new.
What are you carrying around from 40 years ago, 40 days ago? What trauma is causing you physical illness and harm? Are you willing to look below the surface of your own skin to dismantle old habits, and emotions that no longer work for you?
I ask these questions because if you are like me, what used to work to avoid dealing with the messiness of sadness, grief, or I don’t want to – well, those “go-to crutches” no longer have the same appeal.
Those old crutches no longer fulfill the void and there is little escape for what each one of us is being asked to recognize. Universally, as well as personally, we have to deal with what we’ve created, dismantle what no longer works, and begin to imagine the new we would like to see.
Why Now?
Why now though? Why do I have to get into the messes of emotions? How can I as one, affect the whole?
Since 2008, the planet Pluto has sat in the sign of Capricorn and has been dismantling structures, policies, and systems that no longer hold true for the future.
On the personal level, Pluto is digging up all of those emotional upsets you’ve felt at one time or another in your life.
Pluto may be a dwarf planet but it packs a powerful punch. Like a mole in the night, Pluto unearths all of the hard work you have put into making your lawn look great.
Pluto will bring forward for your observation, for your awareness, your acknowledgment, and your action the very things that are no longer serving a useful objective. And often what Pluto unearths comes in the form of emotion – the very thing that bridges the senses between the outer and inner world.
2008 started with the housing crisis. Since this time education requirements and costs have risen, hospital and healthcare costs have skyrocketed, the deficit has grown by multitudes, and according to Time Magazine (Jan 2019) the wealthiest one percent (about 40 people) took in 82 percent of the wealth created in 2017.
That’s just the start of it on the big picture scale. From an individual perspective, maybe your own space feels small. Maybe you feel small. We are all feeling the ramifications of the structures that need to be dismantled and revised from within our own spirits.
We are being asked on a personal level, what our value system looks like. We are being reminded of our own personal traumas and mistakes. We are being shown the belief systems that we carry today and how we might wish to change them for the future.
Only when we clean our own shed, can we begin to help clean the sheds of higher structures that make decisions for the whole. Only when we notice within us what is important and relevant can we begin to take steps to live according to standards that fit our needs, not our material desires.
Pluto will move out of the sign of Capricorn and into the sign of Aquarius next March (2023). In its last degrees of Capricorn, Pluto will do whatever is necessary to show you the good, bad, and ugly. Everything is up for discussion, and you are its candidate.
So yes, emotional cleansing is very important. Kids are hurting, working people are hurting, and our elderly (those who have already lived through one Great Depression) are struggling – we are all in this together.
We have to unite, personally and spiritually if we are to forge new paths. Unification comes from group consensus, and group consensus comes from understanding oneself. It is a revolving door.
It’s time to let go. It’s time to make space for something new and different. Even if you do not yet know what it is that will be new – take a few moments each day to journal what is causing you pain, and frustration.
As you begin, be gentle with yourself. See the truth knowing your own body will possibly feel divided.
Understand your comfort zone is being pushed and you will not feel comfortable as you work to discard old ways of being. What you see and are frustrated with in the outside world will have a similar feel to your inner soul.
Over time, the reaction will lessen. Over time, you will be shown a higher calling, a better way, and a brighter perspective. At first, you are simply asked to become aware. You cannot run before crawling or walking, so be gentle as you start the journey.
And do not take this journey alone. Find a therapist if necessary, someone who is a good fit for you. Find alternative practitioners with open minds who can help you see the deep reservoir of hurt, abandonment, etc. Please seek help without judgment if you need to. There are many hotlines available, walk-in clinics popping up, and call centers to help. Reach out.
Most of all believe you are part of the change. Recognize you are not responsible for all others. You can’t change everything, you can only change yourself.
Once you realize this, the work can begin. It is here you will find your ability to change what is in your immediate space, you will feel the energy begin to shift, others will notice, and hopefully, together we can all make room for building something for everyone.
I invite you to listen to “Just Sayin With Jen and Susan” and visit their Facebook page to leave a comment. What if we are not falling, what if we are learning to fly….just sayin’.
Together we can create the world we wish to live in. Will you be part of its success?
