image courtesy of Caveman 92223

Holding a bright green perspective in a largely cynical world is difficult for me. I’m not used to thinking positively about the future or seeing my own decisions as an integral part of what is being created. It’s not what I was raised or trained to do.

Rather, I tend to see myself as separate from everything else, and I’m used to feeling bad about where “the world” is heading. Sometimes I feel like a kook when I try to reach for a more positive and participatory of view. Sometimes it even feels fraudulent. How can I talk about becoming new people and bearing new gifts when so much what I do and feel is old and dingy and dark?

My spiritual path helps me accept all that I am, from snarky to infinitely creative, and to develop my ability to choose which stream to go with in every moment. Seeing the grand unfolding of the universe on a very very big scale gives me perspective on my smallness and also makes it clear how responsible I am for how this experiment goes. It requires me to expand my own awareness to brand new places, and grounds me in a community so that I don’t fly away in the process.

Living with the tension between who I usually am—small, separated, responsibility-shirking—and who I want to be—powerful, inspiring, constantly-developing—is freakin’ hard. It’s shameful and illuminating and challenging and thrilling. It is also the only way I know of to grow into a person who can envision and describe and create new paths into the future. For me, evolutionary spirituality—connecting with the spirit inherent in evolution itself—provides a framework for pushing the edge of these possibilities, and a reason to keep at it.

What about you? Does spirituality play a role in your desire to change the world? If so, how? If not, what motivates you? How do you keep going? I’m really curious about this ...