We should all be the legend in our own story.

I have received some pretty shit treatment throughout my life… It makes me wonder: what is this community we are born into if we can’t respect each other’s differences or encourage each other’s passions?

Must we succumb to competition or jealousy—or instead dilute ourselves and fall into line, keep our heads down, dress the same, think the same—to be somewhat accepted, let alone respected?

Even in so-called open and accepting spaces—the healing world, LGBTQ+ spaces, activism groups—there’s still a uniform: a way to be or speak or act. And if you don’t think, talk, and act the same, then you are vulnerable to harsh exclusion. These groups, who are grasping at connection and inclusion, are yet failing to accept our real differences—which are so multicoloured and vast that you can’t put them into any box or collective. We are each our own universe, filled with unique experiences, shadows, preferences, and perspectives.

I see the world so quick to judge, to become defensive, to make conclusions—to not sit with what is being stirred up for consideration… furiously typing back to respond, so quick to blurt out how we see it. And if not agreed with, then looked down upon from some high horse, where only how they think makes any logical sense.

I think how the West has dissolved religious structures into individualism has a lot to do with it, yet hasn’t achieved its goal because it has no healthy foundations to move out from—basically winging it without any guidance or guidelines for how to grow, to live, to reflect, to honour… Throwing the old-school baby out with the bathwater. Instead, just floating in a sea of “whatever will be, will be”—fragile and vulnerable, yet traumatised and controlling… forming all kinds of alliances with those who seem popular or “good”—often not intelligent, but just fashionable… or safe… needing to belong to something… anything.

This is why I think conspiracy and all the madness we hear from the spiritual crowd has taken such root—vulnerable to ideologies, often dangerous, actually putting us against each other, throwing salt into our already infected wounds, causing a lot of pain and hate and fear.

Truly, I believe these structures—like religion—are needed. Be it pagan or religious, I think religion goes a lot deeper than pagans following their seasons. It helps us to learn how to treat each other better. Even astrology is quite inwardly focused and separate. I have always studied bits and bobs from the religions of the world, including teachings from yogis and spiritual masters, and I must say still—from all I have learned—that religions are perhaps the best we have.

I was taught a long time ago by a guru yogi—Daniel Aron, an American teaching in Bali—to take what you like and just leave the rest. This has served me well, as so much energy can be wasted fighting about what parts we don’t agree with, whereas there can be so much wisdom within the teachings of many things.

Maybe the religions will evolve, or collaborate into something new and collective. Or maybe we will be able to decipher the meaning at the root of it all—letting go of all the damaging crap that has been taught along with it. Who the hell knows… But for now, on Earth, we are a lost and destructive lot… especially perhaps in the West. We have forgotten how to treat our neighbours, we barely know how to honour our families, and we are struggling to see right from wrong.

In the end, I believe (and have been told by ayahuasca) to be thankful for everyone. We are all needed, important, necessary, and vital to the health of this planet and collective.

“Save one and you save them all” is the motto in the book I am currently reading (The Tattooist of Auschwitz).

Maybe to save yourself just now is the best you can offer—and an offering worth nothing less.

Maybe you can save a partner, or your children, or your family, or more… But the point that I am trying to make is: we are all unique. We are all a legend within our own story and in what we bring to the world.

I would love to be a part of a community that recognises that—that honours each one, that doesn't disrespect or pull too much on each other's energy or act fake or ignore or judge… but can hold each other up to the same values. A real tribe that honours difference but aligns with morals and teachings that have been passed down for thousands of years. We are not new to this planet, so why are many of us acting like we are?

I have lived and spent time in such communities, and I feel it’s sad that we simply don’t have that in the West. The competitiveness, the lack of effort, of commitment, of meaning…

But it all starts with us—carving out something different. Aligning with a new energy. Listening to the call when the universe gives us the nudge (or one of its disciples).

Who is ready for some healing?