Each year on ‘ru ok’ day I find myself thinking of Dad, thinking of all the people out there struggling, thinking of myself and my ongoing battles with life.

From the outside most of us paint such a pretty picture of happiness, but this is an impossibility to maintain throughout our entire lives. As humans we are just not built to be joyful and completely well all the time. Buddhists teach of ‘dukkha’ or suffering, and although this may seem a little depressing, it’s a concept that all of us can relate to at some point in our lives. The beautiful thing about ‘dukkha’ is that it is temporary. As we get older we begin to really grasp how fleeting moments are, and we begin to understand the impermanence of life can be both magical and traumatic.

At the moment the Universe is spinning so quickly. I feel it in my own life and have been observing it all around me. We are so busy, calendars so full, stress levels are high and some of us can get onto a roundabout never feeling like we are able to step off. For some people this is great, they love a fast paced existence full of doing and achieving and paying down the mortgage. For others, myself very much included, they cannot handle the pace. We are the canaries in the gold mine. We are the ones who are able to warn everyone else that this pace is not going to be able to be maintained, that there is no longevity in this and that, at some point, the proverbial shit is going to hit the fan. We are the ones that see life as precious and sacred, too important to be spent with the many doings that don’t really matter.

So what do we do about this, stop everything and go live in a cave? Throw our hands up in the air and say no more? I’m not really sure of the answer, but for me, at the moment, I am taking it one day at a time. I have a deliberate methodical way of living consciously – I get up and breathe, I move daily, I enjoy eating dinner with my family, I put down my phone and throw the ball around with my daughter. I assess everything before committing, arranging my life by priority – filling my own cup and being with my family at the very top of that list. On the outside this may look controlling, contrived or even at times selfish. But looking at my priorities I don’t really give a shit what it looks like on the outside, it’s the only way I can live in this world at the moment. I know one day (that all elusive one day!) I will live a simple, peaceful and quiet life, but at the moment I have things to see through and passions to live out. Because of this, and because I am a canary, I must do so in an ordered and deliberate manner.

So for anyone out there who is a fast paced living lover, go for it, knock yourself out and enjoy the ride. But for those canaries out there, I see you, I feel your pain, I am right there with you and I see the magic in your eyes and the compassion in your heart. We may move through this world silently, but we are together, spreading empathy and raising the consciousness of humanity. Things won’t always be easy, life will be a constant balancing act, but when you get your mind right all will be brilliant, whole and complete. Be ok with not being ok, but when you are ok reach out and hold the hands, or wings, of all the other canaries out there.

Alicia xxx