Like many folks, I’m in a major death portal. As most of you know, Asheville experienced catastrophic damage as a result of Hurricane Helene. Entire parts of the city were completely destroyed. Some people lost their lives. Many lost their homes and loved ones.
Thank you to those who reached out or sent prayers. Both are greatly appreciated.
My family and I were relatively lucky. Our home suffered minimal physical damage, and while we were without electricity or running water for a few weeks, we always had what we needed and were able to be useful to our neighbors.
When I received visions of apocalypse over the past few months, I didn’t expect it to hit so close to home. I thought maybe it would happen somewhere else or in a more generalized way. But in truth, big and small apocalypses are happening every day at an accelerating rate.
Much of what I was shown is coming to pass. Over the past few weeks I have experienced heaven and hell—sometimes within the span of a single hour. The light has never been so bright, nor the shadows so apparent.
The Asheville community has done an admirable job of weathering this storm. The community support and cooperation have been nothing less than extraordinary. People who lost jobs have become full-time volunteers. Neighbors that may have rarely talked or not even known one another have become collectives of mutual aid.
There are countless stories of love, loss, heroism, coming together, and falling apart. Many things are dying. But many things are also being born.
The greater the catalyst, the greater the opportunity for polarized choice. In times like these, one becomes intensively aware of how every thought and action is informing the co-creation of reality. Every moment contains the opportunity to choose love, patience, acceptance, understanding, and forgiveness. Or to be possessed by fear and anger, which leads to hatred and the desire to control or destroy the things outside of us that cause suffering.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen how choosing love can co-create pockets of heaven amidst hell. I’ve also seen how fragile that field of love can be and how easily it can be destroyed.
Lots of things are dying right now. I’m being hollowed out. In terms of my exterior life, I don’t know what will survive. But inwardly I’m experiencing a return to innocence and childlike wonder.
That is my most essential nature. Everything else I have done or been feels like pantomime.
I don’t know what the future holds. I’m taking things one day at a time. I’ve set sail on the ocean of infinite possibility as the sacred fool, to be blown about by the winds of change with no compass or map save my heart and a sincere desire to serve the good of all and to live in integrity with wisdom and love.
If you would like to help the Asheville community with recovery, consider donating to one or more of the local non-profits doing incredible work in the community at BeLoved Asheville or Brother Wolf Animal Rescue.