The Fear Collective

First, what is “the collective?” The collective is the energy of all of humanity and the awareness of their current condition and lived experience. The collective is also referred to as “collective consciousness.” 

Think about walking into a room and the ambiance is happy and comfortable, your intuition, mind, and body detect that positivity immediately. When the energy of a room feels hostile and heavy, you’ll feel that immediately, too. When the collective energy of a group of people is that of moving forward and healing due to the awareness of their spiritual condition, the collective is on a path to ascension. The collective’s energy impacts everyone; some individuals are more affected than others. When the collective is fearful and hopeless, their path to ascension becomes much more challenging; simply existing can become burdensome for many groups of people as clearly some people are harmed and affected far more than others during times of civil, political, and economic unrest.

When the collective is subjugated to harmful political forces or other oppressive externalities, civil unrest and upheaval of norms, cultures, and beliefs can occur, causing individuals and groups of people to feel powerless and overwhelmed due to the stress on the collective consciousness of humanity. Natural disasters also cause major shifts in the energy of the collective. Being afraid makes you easier to manipulate. You cannot organize your own thoughts, let alone organize a movement of betterment and change, if you are constantly in a state of overwhelm.

Here are some ways to unplug from collective fear, enhance collective strength and hope, and gain back your autonomy:

1. Limit yourself to a set amount of time to keep updated on the news. It is okay to want to stay informed, but it is not okay to feel so overwhelmed that you develop paralyzing anxiety and worry.

2. Ground yourself regularly. Do protection work. This is very important.

3. Change happens at the community level. Figure out ways that you can help your community within the scope of your capacity. Offer to help transport people to free medical and dental clinics, get involved with a youth mentoring program, trap and fix stray cats in your area, volunteer at a food bank, network with community organizers on social media. Find a gap in local resources and help to fill that gap. Focus on supporting local efforts that raise up those who need it most.

4. This is a time for deep self-reflection concerning your positionality in society. Understanding your own privilege is crucial to being a better ally to people who are at more risk of being harmed than you. Knowing when to be an ally is equally important.

5. Create a comfortable space in your home customized for YOU - this can be a book nook, a small garden, or a cozy place to drink tea. Work with your space and resources. Think: Sun catchers, fairy lights, disco balls, crystals, wind chimes, art, and cool rocks. Everyone loves a cool rock.

6. In cases of natural disaster, volunteer time and money to rescue efforts and relief funds if you have the capacity. Practicing gratefulness is an effective way to break from collective panic and suffering.

7. Start a new craft or hobby. Put your energy towards learning something new and fun. 

8. Be fancy for no reason. Get little boosts of serotonin where you can. Is this silly? Yes, that is the point.

9. Dress up for no reason other than that you're alive.

10. Consider fostering a dog or cat to keep yourself focused on actively healing nature. You might not feel like you can change the world, but you can change a dog or cat’s whole world by fostering. Fostering animals actively heals nature because they are nature.

11. Go outside and scream with the cicadas for catharsis. It's cheaper than therapy.

There are seemingly endless things to be devastated about that are going on around us, but we need to take a few steps back and take care of ourselves. As the saying goes, you can't pour from an empty cup. You think better when your mind is clear. Thoughts and movements can be organized when minds are open; aware, but unencumbered. You can shift collective consciousness when you are taking care of yourself as you become a light to those in your community. This is the power that the individual holds.

Trusting that positive change is possible makes positive change possible.