Carousel of Time
And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return, we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round in the circle game
The Circle Game by Joni Mitchell
One of the reasons the MAGA movement, or any movement that yearns to return to a perceived “glorious past,” won’t work is simple. IF we could return, individually or collectively, we would simply arrive at 2023 exactly as it is (and we are) now.
The oftentimes quote from George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” was made in reference to knowing, acknowledging, and hopefully learning from our historical past; the REAL history of past events and past choices. He’s not saying to indulge in remembering and reliving our past experiences with all of the emotional content such memories contain. This is why MAGA and nostalgia don’t work.
We can choose to stay on the carousel of time, circling round and round in the same old memories and the emotional experiences they bring forward, or we can lift our heads up, say “there must be a better way,” and take the first step on the spiral path toward wholeness and integration. On the spiral path, we expand, we forgive, we choose new perceptions and responses; we learn to love and forgive ourselves and we move forward. On the carousel of time we can only “look behind from where we came” and re-experience our memories as though they were happening in the present, as indeed they are.
It can be valuable to “look behind from where we came,” IF we do so without re-experiencing the original emotions and judgments. When we have healed the past (stripped the memories of emotion and energy through self-forgiveness), it becomes our history, like an old black-and-white movie or a tintype instead of a digital photo or video. As our history, it no longer impacts or recreates the present and certainly not the future.
A healed past takes us off the carousel of time, and puts us on the spiral of ever-changing, ever-expanding present.
Remember, we can choose to remember those past experiences which serve us well, or we can choose to remember those that do not. What we choose to remember is what we create in our present. This month, let us take Quan Yin’s advice and gently, lovingly, and with forgiveness bury the ghosts of our past so we can create a present which is anchored in forgiveness, compassion, excitement and love.
Blessings,
Charlotte
edited by Monique Huenergardt of MoReadsYou.com