....a new way of seeing

Yogis,

In the Washington DC area, we have a highway which draws one large circle around downtown and the close in suburbs of MD and VA known by all here simply as ‘the Beltway’. Most of us have a love/hate relationship with this 64 mile stretch of road. It is often the most direct or quickest route from point A to point B but at certain times of day, or if any incidents occur, it can become a parking lot in the blink of an eye.

To further complicate it, the beltway crosses the river twice, taking you from VA into MD and then back again on the other side of the circle. Therefore, for those who must cross over to the other state, if the beltway is congested, the next smaller crossover can be quite a distance away.

Over the past 10 years the hours of gridlock have grown exponentially. Many of us plan our outings, vacations and the restaurants we frequent based on the timing of the traffic. An overturned tanker on one of the river crossings just a few weeks ago caused five to seven hour trips home that night. Yes, it appears a change is required.

Our governor’s solution, backed by many who must commute and some who live in our neighborhoods receiving the cut through traffic, is to widen the beltway by 4 lanes. That is how it is done. Sounds simple, but of course it is not.

All of us living close, already hearing its hum when the wind blows our way, will suddenly become even closer. Some neighbors will lose their homes. Hundreds of trees will come down, joining the hundreds of others already being felled or dying from our overgrowth. And our already fragile river and creek, where I spend much time reconnecting to myself and what’s real will endure even more runoff.

All, so they say…….in the name of progress. Sigh.

If this expansion was somehow going to magically solve everyone’s commuting issues, I would try to rally behind it, but it’s smoke in mirrors. For a short time perhaps, there will be some ease, but with more road more development will quickly follow and more people will decide it is ok to commute further and we will be right back where we started. I feel like this is a band aid on a gaping wound.

We are seeing this problem with the same eyes that created it. We need new eyes. A new way of seeing.

In class we are working with our third eye center. Our energy of seeing what is real. Cutting through illusion to awaken. Not being swayed by the current consciousness. We sorely need this type of insight now for this, and many other current issues.

With the explosion of technology there is another solution and there are minds out there who given permission will not be blinded by how things have always been done. Think Uber, Airbnb, electric scooters dropped off in the dark of night, Paypal……

I myself keep asking a question. Why does everyone have to get in a car and drive a distance to a building to do their job? Some professions such as nursing may have no other choice (although even our medical appointments are beginning to happen online) but the majority of us push paper and given the right options could change our ways. 

But this would require a paradigm shift. An acknowledgment that what we are doing isn’t working. Taking a risk to believe in something out there that we don’t yet understand. Having vision.

The current solution already feels obsolete. My hope is for some new eyes to be opened before it’s too late.

Vision,
SARAH