The Times They Are a-Changin’
Dear All,
In 1963, Bob Dylan wrote The Times They Are a-Changin', a conscious effort to bring about change in one of the most tumultuous and insane decades in world history. Characterised by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, political assassinations as well as many anti-war protests, this was a prime period ripe for change. Although this period now belongs to world history, some of the aspects that made this period so characteristic have not been preserved in the past. In the past few years alone, we have seen the world plagued by a pandemic, war(s), ongoing political unrest, social divisions and the dark cloud of the climate crisis looming, to name a few. Many of the themes that were valid than (in the 1960s) are in some sense reflected in the times we live in today. Of course, every decade has its own significant events and is characterised by series of changes that have allowed to shape the respective time period, however diverse history may be in distinctive events, what each era has in common is that there are always a few major events that move the rest of that era forward.
People who have been following me for a while may remember that for years I have been consciously aloof from the news as well as the sensational (and often negative) way in which information is brought to people on a frequent basis, however, no matter how hard I try to maintain some form of hygiene in what type of information I consume, world news also reaches the far end of the countryside where we live. The amount of misery of the past few years alone is asking an enormous amount of a human being.
“How to remain optimistic about the future we collectively move towards, in times when the horizon (literally) seems to be getting grittier? How to keep hope in times when the heaviness is so palpable and the messages for the future are not necessarily getting brighter? What will mark the rest of these decades? What are we heading for together?”
I have no doubt that many of these questions are on your mind as well, but despite the uncertainty and turbulence of the past few years alone as well as the darkness that seems to be storming towards us, I do not see the future in the least bleak or hopeless. On the contrary, just like when Bob Dylan wrote this legendary song, I believe that we too are on the cusp of a massive change that will usher in a new chapter in the human story. For a long time I carry the vision, as I have received it in my dreams, ideas and medicine journeys, that the darkness of the cloud hovering above us is a single shower of rain on the long path we all walk as a collective. It is not a rainy season or a sustained storm but it is the inevitable darkness at the beginning of every tunnel, a tunnel that leads us to new proverbial light. Yes, the coming decades will probably initially bring much more unrest, uncertainty, incomprehension and sadness. I think there's a good chance that the many tumultuous events of the past few years heralded what will last longer, but I believe all this is only giving birth to a large-scale collective transformation that invites us to change. Similar to the process of giving birth, in which the woman goes through a beautiful but unbearable process of literal transformation, transformation to finally pass on the gift of life to new life, so too we are invited as human beings to give birth to the next step in our collective story. For too long we have wandered without cultivating a conscious relationship with the Earth and the results of this we are now living through in today's worldly problems. But, perhaps this was what was needed, perhaps all this was necessary to make us remember. The deep remembrance of what it means to be human in relation to the mystery, to the wondrous nature of existence.
In a lot of my work I invite people to look at life again, to perhaps slightly (or sometimes radically) adjust your perspective in order to see life in a new color. Despite the many different forms of expression in which I have expressed myself, this is one of the important and central themes that is woven into all the work. My reason for writing is therefore no different, I try to shine a guiding light that can set the course through the high waves on an ocean of uncertainty. Or, as Albus Dumbledore so beautifully speaks in Harry Potter:
“Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
The coming years will not necessarily get any easier for many people in this world and although it may not affect you directly, it is very important that you ask yourself how you can make a positive and conscious contribution to the transformation through which we move. Especially in times like these when the appearances of the world can seem darker and heavier than ever before, it is crucial that we are there for each other, that we give each other the space to express ourselves, that we recognise the mutual and unique differences and that we make an effort to look beyond our judgment. Let's not give in to despair, hatred and misunderstanding, but let's try to propagate the change ourselves. Words like these are not new, but they are necessary.
Let's hold on to each other, please, in times like these it is vital that we increase our support, cultivate our compassion and call on what makes us all human. Only when we hold each other, give each other space and show love for each other can we move through the shadowy tunnel. Remember, it's not about you alone seeing the light, it's about reaching the end together, hand in hand.
In love and reverence, sven
