Let’s hear it for the yin in us all
We’re on the cusp of a new dawn. The waves of transformation have been growing with intensity, and our (Western) world is changing fast. Have you noticed this, too? As with any catalytic shift — be it a health crisis, battling a blazing fire or going through a breakup — it gets messy. But, we’re making a giant evolutionary leap right now.
It’s not always obvious but if you look closely, and back in history, you can trace the trail of evidence. It started a couple of hundred years ago and accelerated in pace from the mid-1900s. The rise of human rights movements, such as peace quests, women’s rights, Indigenous sovereignty, anti-racism, health and wage equality campaigns have helped to pave the way.
Evolutionary biologists and anthropologists argue that division and aggression are innate — like somehow the urge to oppress and fight is wired into our genetic code (it seems implausible to me). Peaceful and collegial societies have existed through time. Some even remain today in parts of Asia, Africa, and South and North America, as small communities living without violence (among individuals and in relation to other groups), and with egalitarianism as a core part of their social make-up.
It goes to show how non-violence, harmony and high levels of co-operation within confined geographic boundaries can and do exist. The biggest problem we Westerners face is, not so much the enemy outside of ourselves, but the one within. Our internalised conflict is fuelled by a sense of restlessness, destination-seeking and endless consumption.
Despite this, it would seem that together we’re all waking from a kind of slumber. Women and girls are finding their feet and voice. There’s a greater openness and willingness to learn from and appreciate other cultures. We’re seeing a greater representation of Indigenous views in many spheres including media, politics, business, health and civil life. People living with mental illness or disabilities are no longer outcasts. Wage equality is firmly on the agenda . . . the list goes on. Don’t get me wrong, we still have a really long way to go.
But at this point in time, it’s like we’re crossing a scanty suspension bridge, swinging 30 metres above a jagged gully floor. The direction we’re moving in is clear, yet the territory is unknown. It calls us forward, nonetheless, and the promise of new ground nears. We can take comfort in looking back at the evidence of the past, and use it to help shape a new, and hopefully brighter, future.
It’s clear that what once used to resonate for many, no longer holds true. The way we work, what we believe, and what we support, settle for and accept — in our relationships, workplaces, communities and our lives — it’s all in a state of massive transformation. What we’re seeing across the globe is a rise in the feminine. It’s not confined to sex or gender but is the feminine (yin) principle of life in equal partnership with the yang (masculine).
It’s all about balance and coming into a form of alchemical unification. Transformation is happening, it’s rising like a wave, and the world will be a very different place in the coming decades. My greatest hope is that this next evolution we’re experiencing is fuelled less by the ego and more by the heart.
Tomorrow is World Mental Health Day and on Monday we have the International Day of the Girl.
It’s a great opportunity to personally reflect on these three important concepts — transformation, balance, and reawakening the feminine principle of life — and to allow for a new way to emerge within you, too.
This article was first published in The West Australian in Renée Gardiner’s weekly column in Agenda, 9 October 2021.