The Gift of Lockdown

The world is in crisis. But in every crisis there’s opportunity. What’s the gift this total lockdown brings us and how will we be able to uncover it?

We can’t go out and about any longer. We can’t fill our lives with the 1001 things we used to not be able to live without. We can’t run away from everything and anything, we can’t run away from ourselves any more. Forced to stay at home and look ourselves in the mirror we may find that the enemy is not outside. It’s inside.

Welcome to the gift of the lockdown. In a world where we cannot run away any longer we’re finally forced to come face to face with who we truly are.

What are the pains our soul harbours, what are the unresolved issues? The painful memories? Have we made peace with those who have wronged us? Have we forgiven? Have we learned the hardest lessons of all – how to love ourselves?

In a time when everyone wears a mask, all the inner masks around us fall. We see, fully see and maybe for the first time. We see who our partner truly is. What unresolved issues have been boiling deep in our families. Who are our true friends and who are not. What is truly important and what not. We find out who we truly are and what parts of ourselves are still in need of healing.

At this point we have two choices. We can still try to hide, run and turn on the TV, the news, the alarming statistics, the evidence that the enemy is out there. We can spend days and nights in fear of what might be. We may fill our mind with thoughts of how we could possibly control the pandemic that has taken the globe by surprise. Or we may go inside and check what is it that requires healing inside of us.

At the deepest level, we are a reflection of the world and the world is a reflection of us. If we are sick, the world is sick. And the other way around. There’s no escape from the collective unconsciousness and nowhere to run away from our responsibility in healing the planet. But where do we start? We heal ourselves first.

Someone who hides pain and suffering inside their heart will unconsciously project this around them. They will need to see the pain and suffering around them because they disown it. And the only way they can see it is by having it reflected back by others. A person who is healed on the other side will not need to project suffering and pain around them. Those who have joy in their hearts see joy around them.

So if you want to save the world, tend to your wounds first. Be honest about them. Don’t imagine they go away just because you pretend they are not there. The more we pretend, the more they will show up around us. Take a look inside and identify what in you needs healing. And then attend to it. As you do, the world around you will change to reflect that healing.

The gift of the lockdown is exactly this: a lockdown. We cannot run away any longer. We cannot continue our mad race of denial. We are forced to stop and look inside. And when there’s nothing else to do, nowhere else to hide, we can finally take the time to heal our souls.

The world is changing and we’re changing with it. Let it be for the best.