Awakening to a new sunrise?

The sun rises every morning whether you are awake to see it or not, the earth spins and waits for no one, it offers only one opportunity a day to witness daybreak and the bird chorus that celebrates the change. That is our part to play in the drama of light returning to give life, we have to choose to be a witness of this birthing, we are the ones who give it meaning, context and the beauty of the moment, it is our curious awareness that gives its significance and a sense of wonder to the occasion. We are the lens through which the universe appreciates itself, we are the presence that creates the present moment, the power of the sun might produce life but it is utterly indifferent to it, there is no relationship or duty of care, the sun simply produces energy, and it is our privilege to give it purpose.

We are the source of purpose, we create the meaning without which the sun would just be the reaction of hot gases interacting with gravity. It is only our perceptions that allow us to perceive, the world expands it's beauty one person at a time, we think that is always being there, but it has evolved over a time span of lifetimes. It was even true for such basic experiences as colour discrimination, the ability had to be
literally developed over a thousands of years, the colour blue had to be discerned, we had to learn to see it before we could appreciate it, we had to open our perception and see what was actually there and how it differed from green before we could see a beautiful blue sky.

If something as basic as colour appreciation had to be learnt, imagine how many other things we have come to appreciate that we did not before, that things could exist that we could not see, that words could be written down and still communicate meaning, that things could be farmed instead of just found, that justice had value, that promises should be kept, that the weak should be protected and that is before we even get to
modern value like fairness, equal opportunity and kindness. These are all things that had to be learnt, that we had to learn to perceive, these were not obvious things, nothing about the dark Ages suggested it would give birth to trends that led to human rights. The first right was to charge interest and was for the benefit of the elites and rich, but it started a system of legal rights that turned slowly into personal rights, and did so because people's perception change one generation at a time, progress comes from the people and only as
fast as they are ready for it.

It happens so slowly that from our personal perception nothing seems to change except when you think back to the old days and what was acceptable. There are jokes that are no longer told, attitudes are no longer tolerated and views that are now offensive, it might even feel like a less permissive society in that you are no longer allowed to do whatever you want. While strangely your options as to what you are allowed to do might be much wider, there are more freedoms to do what you want but not to say anything. We certainly feel like we are living in a world that is more offended, however it might just be because our perceptions are opening up and like anything that has been in the darkness for millennia it can be a little sensitive to light for a while.

Perhaps those who are offended at the moment are only so offended because they have been offended against for so long. If you were to engage in an act of empathy, you might understand that people are going to be a little sensitive when their eyes are open to the fact that they have been oppressed or discriminated against for a long time. It is my hope like so many things that the pendulum swings back to a more tolerant
age where people are free to be themselves no matter how it manifests, even if you end up doing what you would have done before, having a choice makes all the difference.

And those are the perceptions that you want to awaken to in your life, each time a new perception opens up in your experiences there is going to be a period of sensitivity. Which can produce a spectrum of reaction, ranging from depression to mania and everything in between, you could feel blissful for while and then oscillate into pain and suffering. However every time you will emerge a little stronger, you develop into a slightly different version of you, one which appreciates that life has depth as well as length, that our passage through time can have a quality that can mature to become richer, that marching forwards does not mean ignoring your surroundings, indeed it is a recognised military skill to be able to have situational awareness or
mindfulness if you prefer.

When you increase what you can perceive, your world becomes more information rich, you see the colours, you start to hear other people's body language and even become aware of the internal chatter of your mind. You have the opportunity to take different points of view both of your own actions and through empathy other people's, you get to take an objective stance and when you do so it affords you the benefit of hindsight in the present moment. You get to be grateful for things as they occur when your perception is deeper, when you are able to skip through time, when you can perceive how your future self will feel, you are able to move closer to that person rather than where you are now, time heals everything, so imagine the benefit of being able to perceive and speed up that process, that is when awakening becomes powerful, when you are able to be in the present moment was having empathy for your past and future selves. That is why it is worth investing in awakening to every new sunrise and finding the hidden meaning in the ordinary.