I have been trying to write this blog entry for a month and a half. Talk about Difficult Beginnings! When things are starting to take form, chaos reigns supreme. Confusion, chaos, and unsettled tumultuous energy are rampantly flowing around. It is enough to make one ill from vertigo. But it isn’t ALL bad.
Like anything in the universe, we are dealing with the yin and yang of creation and that means that anytime disorder and chaos are around, the moment of clarity, order, and efficiency are right around the corner. So, this is good news and it bodes well! Kind of hard to believe when you are in the oily muck, but buck up little camper–good times are on the way if you can survive this temporary moment of utter confusion.
When I think of Difficulty at the Beginning, I can’t help but think of the BP disaster in the Gulf and our complete lack of clarity in how to deal with it. Very difficult to say the least. From the moment of the explosion, we were in chaos–whether it was the confusion of no leaking vs. leaking, or just a little leaking vs. many boatloads of oil spewing, or safety shut-offs vs. dead batteries, or junk shots vs. top kill, or clumsy robots vs. containment caps–we have no idea how to fix this, how to clean it up, or even how to proceed going forward with the industry that has no idea how to fix this either. It is pretty bad when the Queen of Oil, Sarah "Drill Baby Drill" Palin tweets that the situation is so out of control that praying for divine intervention is our only hope. But in the spirit of the I Ching and the yin yang philosophy, this turns out to be great news!
It is great news, of course, if we listen to the warnings that this hexagram, Water over Thunder, has to give us. The message is, that in regards to Nature, humans really do need to transform our viewpoint from one of control to that of surrender. We can control Nature like we can control the oil volcano in the bottom of the Gulf. When this Year of the Metal Tiger began in February, I warned people that this was an angry, surly Tiger, best known for major natural and man-made disasters. The Tiger is trying to tell us that we have no control, we don’t have a clue, and maybe we shouldn’t be doing things that have such serious consequences as drilling for toxic poison a mile underwater. This disaster was a natural result of humans thinking we are bigger, smarter, and better than we are.
The most important point that Chun makes, is that this is a phase, it is growing pains and this too shall change. But did we learn anything? Did we grow up a bit in the process? Carol Anthony says of this hexagram "If we persevere, things will work out." That is something to cling to when watching dead, oiled pelicans and dolphins wash ashore in brown sludge. We truly have no other choice at this point, but to persevere. And that means sacrifice, hard work, and a total pivot on our relationship with Nature, natural resources, and the corporations involved. We, as Americans, must demand that we overhaul our energy dependence on oil, treat our land and waters and creatures within with honor and respect, and do everything personally to make this happen. Less driving, more walking. Less toxic energy sources, more wind and solar. Less corporate greed, more collective sharing. We can turn this difficult, chaotic time in our history into a bright, clean new beginning if we pay attention and learn the hard lessons. Yes, we really can.