As the extreme drought continues in Northern Minnesota, we have come under threat of fire. Over 20,000 acres are burning, with no containment, west of my home. Four new fires have broken out in the wilderness to the north. Fires on the Canadian border, just east of me, have been burning for months. We’ve been breathing smoke since June and I’ve have developed a phlegmy cough. Spotter planes are flying overhead. With national firefighting resources thin, there is a possibility that my home––a place I built with my own two hands––will be lost if the fires continue.

It’s time to organize a home evacuation plan. I’ve made a list of important family contacts in case I am displaced. I’ve boxed up my important documents and shipped them to a safer location. I’m putting things in my car that I will need if I have to leave. It’s strange to look around my home and try to decide what few objects to try to save. What is important? Things I can use? Things that have sentimental value? The old adage “You can’t take it with you” really applies here.

Having lived through fire danger before, I’ve tried to impress my family with the need to be prepared. They seem oblivious. I feel alone in taking this seriously. I feel stressed. Tears come often. I want to stop and appreciate the woods as they are now. Around me, they are not on fire. They are beautiful. But they are bone dry and the wind is swirling with ash. 

I turned to my Teachers for help:
Am I over reacting? No.
Am I sensitive to the situation? Yes.
I am trying to just accept what is, what is far out of my personal control. Maybe this is pre-grief, for the possible loss of my home. Maybe this is hooking into old emotions of loss and grief. During my lifetime, my slate has regularly been erased clean (childhood homelessness, divorce, cancer). I do not want to do this again––start all over!

Do not be too worried about what comes to pass. Whatever it is, it is not just happening to you. You may be cluing in to the general sense of fear and unease. It will be important to have some idea of what is yours and what it not. There is much unsettled in the natural world. This is one part of The Shift. Remember the bigger picture, that things are changing on a cosmic scale. You do not choose whether you will participate or not, just how. 

Seeing a bigger context is helpful. I was not even aware that I was shutting down. Now I feel my energy expanding in all directions.

This is the unwinding of the spools, the expanded consciousness that is needed in these times. Open up to allow The Shift, to allow it to flow through you. When you are shut down in fear, you are limiting the flow of Life Force, you are closing off the channels which bring you to greater consciousness. Being open is what is needed. Being open is what you can do to help yourself and others. Your greatest influence is Love and compassion. Occupy interstitial space, let it occupy you. 

The same is true for your family situation. Shutting down drives others away. Opening and expanding draws them to you. 

A hummingbird just stopped at the window and hung in the air, looking in.

Be like the hummingbird: keep your energy flowing, let it hum, and drink in the sweet nectar of Life.