Hello {{first_name}},

Are you an apocaloptimist?

Conflict is a constructed experience for each person involved, rather than a straightforward description of a circumstance that is happening “out there”

~ Richard McGuigan and Nancy Popp, The Self in Conflict:The Evolution of Mediation

Don't know about you, but I'm finding it hard not to get swept into the drama these days. I used to love that saying "not my circus, not my monkeys" but despite my best intentions I keep dipping back into one channel or another and going down rabbit holes. Why the hell am I doing this? (and maybe you are too, or at least a ton of other people are which is why I'm writing about it as I think it's relevant).

All the spiritual channels keep reconfirming for you the imminence of humanity’s awakening, and yet many of you keep allowing yourselves to be drawn back into doubt by the negativity of the illusion as you are continually reminded by the media of the wars, suffering, unconscionable poverty, and unconscionable corruption that is occurring worldwide.

Yes, there is an enormous amount of suffering across the world, but unless you feel intuitively called to physically assist in alleviating it by working with charities, or by going to areas that you have access to where you can personally help, or in some other appropriately active fashion, then do not dwell on the suffering. ~ channelled via John Smallman

Maybe some of us need to print this out and put it by our bedsides? (note to self)

So why do we do this? Why would we keep "diving back into the fray" so to speak? A couple of reasons I believe. On a personal note, my guides have explained to me that I use information to gorge myself on, as a way of avoiding my feelings. While some use food, other use shopping and others use relationships or overwork - I use information! I gobble it until my head is spinning! I am now aware of the pattern - yet that doesn't mean I am cured by any means. I'm just able to sidestep this destructive behaviour some of the time. Incidentally, it's also being pointed out to me that I don't need to reference everything I say, or feel the need to pull out 10 books and go over them before I record a training on a subject - but that is the legal training in me...I'm being taught to rely on my intuition and wisdom - the innate wisdom, not keep trying to provide "evidence". I'm interested in your thoughts on this?

Moving on -

Could information gorging also be one of your patterns? Let me know I'm not alone!

Another reason some of us may keep dipping back into the dramas is the dopamine hit we get as we scroll, either finding things we deeply resonate with or things we totally don't and then want to share our outrage with others. Boy, there is a LOT coming out about the dangers of addiction to the online world. The most brilliant take on this I've seen is Russell Brand explaining Mark Zuckerberg's new Metaverse. I hadn't bothered to educate myself as to the Metaverse, but Brand did an excellent job. This video is not for sensitive viewers as Brand doesn't mince his words. Watch here. ​

Another reason: Many people are feeling a strong sense of inertia, with all this ENERGY COMING AT US and at least reading about the drama fires us up for a while - gives us the adrenaline hit we're subconsciously addicted to. The key with inertia is that we need to KEEP moving - pick a direction and go - even if that requires changing course later. Take action - it will beget more action.

A WORLD IN CONFLICT

In the current module of the Legal Lightworkers VIP Academy we are looking at the role of conflict and as we're looking at a world in such conflict, it feels very apt.

Along with many who study conflict, I believe that we create conflict both consciously and unconsciously, for our own evolution. It's a necessary part of the human journey. It forces us to shift our attitudes or our actions or our relationships - it forces us out of inertia and into growth!

This means conflict isn't the "terrible" thing we must avoid but rather something we must learn to work with.

It also means we deepen our understanding of conflict always generating from inside us. This becomes a pretty heavy conversation when people ask "what about a kid who has a bomb dropped on his home, did he create that?" I think spiritual teachers would explain that this little soul may have chosen this path in order to wake people up to the horrors of war. We can go further into this but it would depend on your spiritual beliefs as we're way out of legal territory now.

I was drawn back this week to the article The Self in Conflict:The Evolution of Mediation which is a deep exploration into the purpose served by conflict. In it, the central concept is that conflict is transformational.

Our intention in this article is twofold: to introduce the notion that conflict is a constructed experience for each person involved, rather than a straightforward description of a circumstance that is happening “out there” (Kegan, 1994), and to suggest that the individual’s construction of the conflict experience follows a predictable and measurable trajectory of increasing complexity.

The article makes some points that I think could really help all of us negotiating conflict in our own lives and in the world, and with our clients (remember that there are a lot of studies showing how poor lawyers are at navigating conflict - despite the fact many of us do it for a living!) One of these points is this:

"One of the principal assumptions of the conflict field is that each disputant has equal capacity to separate the people from the problem once they have all heard each other’s perspective. Within this assumption lies another assumption: that each of the disputants has the capacity to take the perspective of the other, momentarily setting aside their own. We challenge those assumptions in the next section, taking an in-depth look at the complexity and perspective-taking capacity of each mindset"

My conclusions - before this becomes an essay...

1. Being aware of this assumption could be helpful right now. Not everyone is able to take the perspective of the other. I've been writing about parallel realities in some of these newsletters and some chose to unsubscribe (not many but one person from the US) while another (also from the US) wrote to suggest what I was writing about should be included in the law school curriculum. So watch out for when you're making this assumption. And, develop your own ability to stand in the shoes of another. For example, people are quick to denounce the burden of refugees flooding into Europe or the US, but when I think about if I was in the shoes of a mother from a war-torn country, starving, abused by everyone in authority, I'd likely also be stealing, pillaging, climbing under borders or swimming across seas to make my way to a safer future for my babies. Take ANYONE you're in conflict with right now - can you spend some time imagining yourself in their shoes?
2. I do think the world is a shit show right now and yet I also trust it's going to turn out OK. I'm an APOCALOPTIMIST! I'm really seeing the division between the more evolved part of me, let's call her spiritual Amanda - she trusts it is all happening in Divine Order. The human Amanda, rooted in her fears and ego, is on Telegramme too late at night, reading the divergent narratives about COVID and jabs and the New World Order and getting pretty riled about it, trying to understand what is going on. Our FOCUS creates our REALITY so you will get more of what you're focused on. This is why I deleted Telegramme off my phone. Decided to MEDITATE more, and go back to the activities that BALANCE me - walking in streams with my kid! I'm still reading - but now it's mostly beautiful spiritual messages like this:

I join you this day with a beautiful vision of Earth. Well, you see, fascinating things are taking place from our perspective. If only you could understand that you all began from the same essence. Each and every one of you was an individual piece of extruded consciousness. You went on your own path, though still connected, so everything evolves. Well, what’s taken place is really fascinating from our perspective. Everything started moving so quickly that you’ve literally lost sight of the fact that it is moving. You are making major headway in many areas of life. Although often all you see are the difficulties, the separation is being pushed. It’s fairly simple to understand, there’s a lot of money to be made by separating people and making them angry.

Ah. I exhale and think "yes!". The agenda is to divide us! I knew that but started falling for it anyway! Now I'm back in peace, choosing peace and that feels so much better.

It's going to take work guys. The ego temptation to dive back into drama - whether in real life or online - is real.

We can make different choices.

Over time, these lead to a different type of life.
​

3. I think this GLOBAL EPIDEMIC OF CONFLICT all serves a purpose. It's not random. We are being SHAPED. We are IN THE FIRE, questioning everything we thought we knew or could rely on. All the power humanity has handed over to government, to lawyers, to doctors - people are now questioning how wise this was, and who can be trusted.

As the authors to the aforementioned article explain, conflict has the potential to transform people’s lives, even if no substantive agreement to the conflict is reached. We are in the middle of the Great Awakening. People are waking up to realising they're not just a little human being, but an extraordinary multidimensional Infinite Being capable of miracles. Yes, YOU are. And learning about this is SUCH FUN and totally MIND BLOWING. And it is going to be hectic and horrific to watch our systems collapse but maybe this is the necessary path to building new ones. If you're interested in what this means for LAWYERS, then reach out - this is what I've incarnated to do: provide support to awakening lawyers all over the world as we figure out how to birth the next legal system.

Here's to more stream walks for all of us. Go get into nature. It's the BEST medicine for our poor tired end of year minds, hearts and bodies. My 6 year old and Tracker, at the stream near our home 2 days ago.

Sending my love for a beautiful future unfolding right before our eyes,

Reach out if any of this resonated with you or you're interested in a reading from your own guides about your role on the planet at this time, or how to navigate the conflict in your own life. That's where our guides are MAGIC. And it doesn't take 5 years of therapy to get the insights ;-)