So often in the personal development realm we’re focused on positivity and light, beauty and bliss. And I’m down with all of that. I think it’s essential to be reminded of this deeper truth about the nature of the world, when at the human level there’s so much pain and suffering. I think it’s always useful to be reminded of life beyond the veil.

And still we’re here. In human form. On planet Earth. And we have a job. That job isn’t easy and it’s not without its challenges.

It’s not easy because the world is not ok. It’s broken. It’s under a spell of disconnection and separation. And that manifests in the most horrific ways.

I spent part of my day reading and talking about yet another incident of a boy raping an unconscious girl. As this crime was being committed, another boy filmed it, and then the video was shared amongst at least 50 other boys – school aged boys.

Then I read about the removal of regulatory safeguards in the US that protected bears and wolves from being shot by human beings, including in their dens while hibernating. Just when you thought the capacity that human beings have for cruelty might have reached its limit…

I shut down my phone after that. But the horrors I’d read about didn’t leave me.

I felt devastated by the state of the planet. I felt distressed to have a daughter who’s so vulnerable – as all females are – to this patriarchal nightmare we live in. I felt upset to have a son who’ll be influenced by the patriarchal mindset, and I felt concerned about what kind of man he might turn into with that influence around him. I felt worried that my best efforts might not prove sufficiently protective of either of them.

Here’s where so much of the personal development realm lets us down I think. It can’t face the horror of life on this planet and so it goes on spiritual bypass.

There’s a big difference between seeing the horror, feeling the pain and allowing it to transform us; and pretending the horror doesn’t exist or doing a mental trick to try and escape from it.

That’s the thing I’ve always wrestled with when it comes to the law of attraction. I get the teaching and I’ve experienced it many times; get into a good feeling place and you’ll attract all the good stuff you’re seeking.

The problem is, so many people use that as an excuse not to see the world as it is. To ignore the problems, to choose not to engage with them, or do anything to change them.

Personally, I think we’re all in this together. I think we’re here to help one another. To bear witness to the pain. To work collectively to find a new way.

I don’t want to escape the pain. If anything I want everyone to go deeper into it. To befriend it. To embrace it. Not to wallow in it but to learn from it. To become more compassionate as a consequence of sitting in it.

When we do that we can manifest differently. From a place of wisdom and stillness and clarity.

I want you to learn to manifest well, not because I care whether you have a beautiful house or boat or car. I’m happy for you it you want those things and I love celebrating with you when you experience the joy of receiving them. But I wouldn’t bother talking about manifesting if that were all it were about.

I want you to learn to manifest because the world is not ok. I want you to learn to manifest so we can come together as a group and use our collective strength to transform the planet. I want you to learn to manifest so I never again have to read about a world where girls are raped when they’re unconscious, or bears are hunted while they hibernate.

It’s essential that we transform this planet.

To do that we must claim our power. We must show people a different way.

Please don’t stay silent about what horrifies you. For the sake of the girls, the boys, the bears and the wolves, we need good people influencing the direction of the planet at this time. Let’s work together. I know we can do this.