The ways of transformation are not comfortable. They do not come in colors that fall easily on the eye. These processes can be tumultuous, like the driving force of a waterfall washing against the river rocks and inexorably wearing them down. The richness of life congeals in these interfaces of transition.
Just as a cell membrane sets its boundary in the world, it is also the medium by which the cell interacts, bends, and shapes itself relative to what’s happening on either side of it. As master at transformation, the cell membrane is the agent of change for the cell, helping to mediate osmotic pressure. It knows how to navigate the waters of change, literally. It doesn’t resist, ignore, or turn away from change; it is an agent of adaptation.
We can be like this in the world. It is about our choices. Instead of resisting what we see showing up in the world and becoming a hostile party as we make the choice to fight with what is, we can seek resolution. Instead of turning away as we label and judge conflict as disgust or intolerable, we can become curious about why we have come to such a conclusion. We can become curious about how we might shift the energies around what we find disturbing. The word ‘disturbing’ mean to stop or hinder, or to disorder. It‘s about turmoil. Where else would the waters of transformation lie except here?
Look at salt water marshes and their ability to mediate change, transforming salt water to brackish water, and ultimately to fresh water. These marshes team with life, transport nutrients form one world to another, from the sea to the land. Marshes accept input from both sides, the ocean and the land, and help mediate equilibrium between these two disparate worlds. Just as marshes have this power to transform parts of one world into another, so we have the power to transform dispute into understanding and compromise.
The elixir of transformation rests in the state of chaos. Out of chaos, form can arise. Stay with conflict, breakdown, and discomfort. Make the negative an unconditional neutral party. It’s a constructive party because it’s revealing a growing edge. A place of discovery. The point of resolution. A place where we can hear the soul directing us through into transformation. Allow it. Even embrace it. This is the core evolution and evolutionary partnerships.
