SANDBOX

Does life ever get you down? Ever feel insanely overwhelmed with all the crises, conflicts, and challenges? Pulled apart with all the pokes and pain? And you just don’t know how to live within the madness, or if you'll be able to muster the muscle to make it? I feel this way and in the summer of 2006 I came up with an idea to help me get through these times. I was with my child Chase, walking around a lake located across from a playground and behind a rundown restaurant that frequently hosted fishers, drinkers, and smokers and also served as the receptacle for their bottles and butts. This was also the habitat for many families of ducks and geese who my child and I enjoyed watching playing peek-a-boo in the water and listening to their squeaking and squawking. Beautiful nature mixed up with human crap! I felt equally bummed for the animals and bitter towards the humans who didn’t share my way of honoring the outdoors. I had to work hard to focus on the experience with my child, while cautiously looking for broken glass. Then I noticed kids playing at the park across the driveway and I thought; all of us living beings are trying to make it among all the crap. Hearing the children laughing and seeing the ducks enjoying a dip in the lake a simple epiphany came to me; we can choose to accept that there is crap and still enjoy playing. Better than sitting on the sideline being bummed and bitter.

Musing on it for a bit, I came up with an analogy to help take the edge off of the serious scariness of life and imagined Earth as a gigantic sandbox that (Universe/Cosmic Consciousness/God/Goddess) created to give us an opportunity to play our parts on the stage of life. The production is an invitation, some experimentation for your soul to go through willing amnesia for the sheer joy of re-awakening to its divine nature. It’s for the bliss of re-membering with all your brothers and sisters and experiencing unity on Earth. Of course, there is still the crap. You can choose to ignore it, but then you’ll miss the prize, and if you obsess over it, it will also stay out of reach. It’s kind of like when your parents sent you off to the playground to play, knowing some other kid may throw sand on you in the sandbox and there might even be a shard of glass, but despite the possible injuries we will survive and make it home. So the big sandbox of life also has plenty of possibilities for boo-boo’s and run in’s with bullies (souls fueled on fear), yet no matter how awful it is, it is not the ultimate reality and whenever our bodies are unable to maintain the housing arrangement with our souls...we just go home. Gently lifted out of the sandbox back into what I personally envision as my divine mama’s arms, welcomed back with unconditional acceptance and love everything endured on Earth, healed. Of course, I would not recommend spending your time waiting to go back home, I speak from experience. However I do hope it can offer reassurance from my own belief, that there’s more, and it’s all good. So what I offer, if it interests you is a mantra for when you want to bury your head in the sand, “it’s just a sandbox, it’s just a sandbox.” Yes there are big and powerful “bullies” trying to control everything, “it’s just a sandbox.” And sadly there are big fights between the “bullies” that are wreaking havoc for far too many,” it’s just a sandbox.”

I know it can seem unnecessarily cruel that while you are here there is an outrageously unequal distribution of resources and to understand why some are born into bubbles supplied with really spiffy sand toys that build sturdy and intricate castles, while others get rusty cans and washed-up shoes. Some of us have really experienced sandbox dwellers excited to show us the ropes, others are pretty much expected to figure it out on their own, and a whole lot in between. Whatever corner of the sandbox you reside in, you will have some unique kind of challenging conditions and circumstances. Try and remember that when you think your corner sucks the most. And before you decide to exclude that rich kid who “has it all,” maybe try hearing his story about his corner with some consideration and compassion. Then you never know, he may reciprocate your humanity. Because a sandbox is a perfect place to make a friend!

Hopefully, we can inspire the kids with the full canteens, with our love lived out as a model for sharing and caring. And remember, “It’s just a sandbox.” None of those circumstances are permanent and we are more likely going to learn to divvy out fairly if we keep the big picture in mind and allow our motivation to come from the concern in our hearts for our brothers and sisters who are in need.

If you are like me you could cry a river when you think of not just shards of glass, but toxic remains of wars, poisonous byproducts from industry, used hypodermic needles, leaking oil, falling trees, dying animals, smog, pesticides…. all that CRAP! We have some really serious sh!t scattered everywhere!! It can seem so ridiculous that we don’t all want to keep this beautiful play space a lot cleaner. Fortunately many have picked up their pooper scoopers and are out combing the desert because one way to help the sadness is action, and we always need more hands and bigger scoopers. A shared purpose is another perfect opportunity to make more playmates. I believe we only come here because back in our cosmic home, you only know about your divine nature, our amazingly intricate and beautifully designed interconnection conceptually and that's all fine and good, but maybe a bit boring. We want this challenge, to experience and live out this divine truth and feel how wonderful interconnection is, like a huge snuggly group hug falling through the sands of time. You want to learn how to create and manifest a life in which your soul evolves into its highest vision. So you willingly choose to come to the sandbox, knowing that here the resources are not shared fairly and you picked specific circumstances when you collaborated with divine/cosmic creators. Together you planned a purposeful pairing of particular premises to allow you the perfect parameters for you to play out your soul’s purpose. Of course, this is what is true for me, in case it resonates with others, I thought it couldn’t hurt to share with my sandy playmates.