This Can Be a (Re)Birth

The IPCC report released on August 9, 2021, indicates that climate change is upon us. We still have time to stave off the worst of it, but our lives will need to change dramatically.

This can be an especially tough pill to swallow for parents, who want to promise their children a world they can thrive.

What if this is an opportunity? To build resilience and connection? To create a better world for all?

What if, with concerted effort from humankind, we can make this a rebirth?

The birth begins with a tightness, a slight period of discomfort. It might pass without much notice. Once it's over, you might think it was a fluke. Maybe you continue to go about your normal business. But soon you begin to notice that these increasing periods of intensity are followed by less opportunity for rest. There's still time to recover in between, to get your head back on straight, to nurture yourself, but you find yourself sinking deeper and deeper into the labor of it, the work that you know you must do for this transformation to happen.

There are moments when you are overwhelmed, uncertain, terrified. And others when you feel a deeper connection to yourself, other people, and of forces of nature than ever before.

There are times when you question whether all this is worth it. You can't see a way out. You doubt your ability to change, and you don’t know what you will be like on the other side. 

As the transition into this new way of being becomes inevitable, these feelings of hopelessness may intensify. The pain may feel unbearable, but unseen forces at work in your brain and body are helping you. You were born to transform. In your essence, you are a creator.

And yes, it might be hard to believe that you were actually built to experience intensity of this magnitude. But every one of these periods of discomfort matters. Each contraction helps bring the new life here.

The last part of birth is called the Ring of Fire. As a new life comes into being, you have to slow down, to remain in your center during the most intense sensations of your life. You can't resist this force of nature: it is the only way. There is no rest here; yet, you are fully in your power.

And when new life arrives, slippery and alien, you are forever changed. You're different physically, mentally, and spiritually. Life may at times feel more difficult than it ever did before the change happened. But it's also going to feel more meaningful, more hopeful, more complete. You'll look back at this time of intensity and understand why you did it, why it was all worth it. You'll remember that you felt hopeless and that you got through it. Transformed. The world is forever changed because of your loving strength.

The concept of physical human birth may not be relatable to all of us. Yet, we are all currently part of a transformation of how we exist in relationship to each other and the planet. And though it’s intense now, we're not at the Ring of Fire yet. We’ll know when we are: at that point, the change will be inevitable, and there will be no rest. But that’s how we’ll know success is just around the corner.

 As a doula, I’ve witnessed many intense uncertainties in the journey of birth. Something that gives me a tremendous amount of hope in these times is the fact that toil and tears are involved in any significant change. That there's no easy way through it, but that the joy at the end is more profound than anything else. 

We're going through a collective rebirth and it feels like all the forces are stacked against us. But we are stronger than we know. Collective liberation is as natural to us as the process of birth itself. Enjoy the ebbs between the periods of intensity while we have them. We need to nurture ourselves, to rest, to breathe. But pay attention for when the time of transition and fire come. They will be as irresistible as a tidal wave.

After a birth, you have to piece yourself back together. Your body, mind, and spirit have all changed in the process of growing and birthing a new life-- or, in our case, a revolution. Life isn’t going to be easier after. But we will know the strength that we collectively hold, and we will wield it, with love, for the rest of our days.