Transcending Consensual Reality 3

“If you want me to go with you, then that’s alright with me. Because I know I’m going nowhere. And anywhere is a better place to be.” Harry Chapin – A Better Place to Be.

This verse from one of Harry Chapin’s songs describes the plight of many people. Drifting along in life, with no sense of destiny or feeling of directional control, they simply accept what is with no conviction that they could change their lot.

Consensual reality – in our personal lives, in our organizations, in our communities, in our country and in the world – are those conditions that we accept as our reality. We “consent” to a particular way of living and thinking. This is really a form of “surrender” mentality. It reflects our inability or reluctance to grasp the teaching of the quantum world – that only tendencies exist. We accept the “fact” that we cannot change relationships; that we’ll never get the job we want; that our organizational culture will never improve; that crime will continue to escalate in our community; that the best days of our country are behind us; that millions of people will starve to death every year; that we don’t have enough healthcare resources to spread around … and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. And accept these “facts” simply perpetuates the circumstances.

We change our reality by changing the way we view the universe. Do you feel like you are part of a relationship in which you don’t belong? Understand that you are never trapped. There are many ways to change the relational landscape or extricate yourself. Instead of accepting that your organizational culture is unrecoverable, reframe your thinking. It may be unrecoverable unless you intervene to change that degree of probability. Yes, people starve to death every day on our planet. But they do not have to die. There is more than enough and to spare. It is simply a matter of understanding how to manage and distribute our resources.

Believing in consensual reality is to capitulate to existing circumstances. You are defeated before you start! But it is often difficult to break free from the gravitational pull of consensual reality. We become blinded to possibilities because we are so immersed in “what is.”

In a recent email to a friend I wrote that she was a wizard in waiting. I provided no further clue as to what I was talking about and she wrote back accusing me of teasing her. But she also asked what I meant. Having the door opened, I was able to introduce her to some other latent abilities – things she had never consciously seen in herself but which were reflected at the level of her soul.

I was playing the role of “Trickster.” Trickster, especially among Native Americans, is often played by the Coyote and is the Creator’s helper or messenger. S/he helps you see alternatives to the straight and narrow path, particularly when other people, institutions or life’s circumstances try to hem you in through peer pressure, unreasonable expectations or conformism. S/he helps you to glimpse options, alternatives, potentials, other pathways and possibilities. S/he assists you in shifting your focus from “what is” to “what can be.”

In a world where many people feel hemmed in and without options, there is a great need for skilled Tricksters.

Probability frees us to shape our present and our future. You are not trapped. Things do not have to be as they are. There are alternatives. We can change ourselves and we can change the world. Who are you now and who can you become? Are you ready to listen to the Trickster?