Out of some combination of curiosity and civic duty, I tuned in to segments of the DNC and the RNC conventions. I must say both events brought up some real concerns about humanity’s level of attention to the wake-up calls alerting us to upgrade how we operate—or suffer the consequences. The upgrade, in my estimation, would include taking personal responsibility that rejects projection, blame, and any lies that might falsely fortify the goal of looking good, or getting ahead—whether personally or on a public platform. Sadly, as we all know too well, the political landscape does not reinforce the upgrade model. Instead, it typically colludes against it, perpetuating often vicious attacks from both sides (left and right) for the almighty purpose of “winning.”

Such positionalities play to our limbic system—the primal part of our brain which is anything but evolved. Instead, it is stuck in ancient fears rooted in survival, warning us that whatever gets in the way of our meals, safety, and reproduction, is an all-out-threat that needs to be annihilated. People living in Chicago, Portland, Kenosha, and Washington, D.C.—or anyone who has seen footage of rioting and violence in those cities, bears witness to what I am talking about. When our ancient, primal brain is activated by anger and hatred, it will shut down the reasoning centers in our frontal lobes, exerting a brute power developed about 450 billion years ago over those newer, more evolved regions of our brain. It doesn’t want you to think your way out of danger; it wants you to fight or flee and will maintain its clout until you elect to stop it, which you can do—since you have a very sophisticated neocortex in place.  As the newest addition to our brain, the neocortex controls higher functions like perception, decision-making and language. It also (quite miraculously) houses a direct passageway to the heart. All we need do to activate that connection is use it—over and over again.

Fortunately, my hope for the human soul continues to be restored by folks like the late African American actor, Chadwick Boseman, the iconic superhero who courageously transcended his life-sentence with cancer to live out his highest purpose. Boseman was not a politician representing the masses, but rather exemplified an altogether different flavor of fame. At the end of his legendary performance in Black Panther, while still embodying his movie character T’Challa, he shares his moving grand-finale statement: “We must find a way to look after each other as if we are one single tribe.” 

Reflecting on his many tributes, I realized that T’Challa merged with Boseman in that film, as I don’t believe those two characters were mutually exclusive. During his rise to international celebrity he managed to find time during his own cancer treatments to visit children who shared the challenges of his illness. He made them smile. He showed them love. He strengthened their courage. He gave them hope. He told them to find their purpose and follow their dreams, no matter what. Chadwick lived that message, privately, without fanfare. In my opinion, he was a legendary example of the “upgrade” to which I refer—by actualizing his full potential and humbly showing others how to do the same.

My first book, Happily Ever After…Right Now (recently released in its second edition) is dedicated to helping people live a life of purpose, passion and true happiness. I ask us in its pages to listen to the silent voice that keeps whispering messages about the unprecedented joy that will follow when you commit to fulfilling your purpose on this planet; to have faith, and when you are tempted to doubt, to turn to the miracles of nature.

When a caterpillar moves into the final stages of becoming a butterfly, it literally melts down in its own cocoon. The caterpillar doesn’t stop to ponder the risk of melting down—it just advances right into the cooker without hesitation. In the caterpillar’s chrysalis phase certain highly organized groups of cells known as imaginal cells propagate each body part in its new form—creating an elegant, soaring butterfly. It essentially shifts from a consumer to a pollinator.

The unfolding of this miracle is just one stunning example of the marvels that you too can experience as you develop your own willingness to flow with a Life-Force that is ever present in the undertow of your consciousness. You and the caterpillar each share within you the potential to transcend and transform yourselves from earth-bound creatures acting habitually from ancient brains to new, higher levels of being. All that is required of you is your willingness to go forward with faith, trust, patience and persistence.

Today, we find ourselves at the hinge-point of a shift in humanity. Our moment of choice is now. If we do indeed see ourselves as “one single tribe” of interdependent cells and human beings, do we have the potential to expand into superhuman organisms? If so, how? Maybe we can start by sitting still long enough to melt into our own imaginal network of propagating cells—even in the midst of the current existential madness, illness, and fear.  And if we should commit to doing so—say for a few minutes a day, maybe while in the process, we will make our way into becoming more conscious beings, pollinating the world with loving kindness, compassion, gratitude, and a genuine tolerance for diversity.   

What do you want to pollinate?

Believing in you,

Love,

For more about Happily Ever After… Right Now visit here or Luannrobinsonhull.com.