How different a world this would be if we all just paused.

Paused long enough to see our life, our self, our friends, neighbors and apparent strangers, from a birds eye view.

How different a world this would be

If just for a moment we dropped the job titles, societal roles and self created descriptors.
If we initiated our lives from hearts and not our heads. From what we feel and not just what we think we know to be true.

How different a world this would be

If we paused long enough to remember that we are not here forever.
That we will merge back to where we came from.
And that we will take nothing with us, yet we will leave much behind.

How different a world this would be

If we all got quiet enough to see that in every moment we are presented with a choice.
A momentary choosing of what we will leave behind when our physical body is no longer.
A choice to leave something that is so potent, its power is almost incomprehensible.

The thing that we leave here…is the legacy that we craft.
The way we walk, talk, live and love.
The essence of our self and the quality of love that we give.
The way in which we have made people feel.

The way we think, the actions we do and the words that we speak echo and expand.
Reverberating throughout an unpredictable amount of people, from generation to generation—for a potentially infinite amount of time.

How different a world this would be

If we dropped who we think we are and what we think were supposed to do.
How would it change where we go, what we do and how we do it?

This isn’t a dress rehearsal. This isn’t a practice round for living.

This is it.
Here and now.
This is it.

The impermanence of this life should not invoke fear nor chaos, but passion, unexplainable love, and a sense of community.

Because no one, not you or I, are here forever.

So what are we going to do, say and collectively craft?
How are we going to walk, talk, love and be?

We must know when to say a sweet yes and when to say a firm no.
We must speak our truth.
And love ever so fiercely.
We must remember our power.
And use it consciously.

How different a world this would be

If we paused long enough to remember who, or better yet what, we really are. Or why we’re really here.

If we took that sacred pause long enough to drop beneath all the titles and labels, and let ourselves feel how we really feel in this very moment.
If we paused long enough to experience the very essence of our soul.

Because this is the way—the quiet yet radical way.
We, as a collective, can change the world.

Author: Alexa Torontow

Editor: Emily Bartran

Photo: Used with permission via Siera Jem