I’ve heard people speak of it on podcasts, in backyards, in my yoga studio, and in church. Some think it’s economic, others spiritual, others political or even technological, but it’s amazing to me the numbers of people who seem lately to be feeling a rumbling under their feet, like something is about to fundamentally change, and who are willing to say so.

I don’t think it’s about Trump or Hillary, ISIS, Monsanto, the Kardashians, our addiction to social media, or violence around the world, but those may be symptoms of something larger that’s on the horizon. No longer do we implicitly trust authority figures to solve problems, and in fact there is a common understanding that our structures and systems have produced leaders that contribute to issues far more than they ever address them. There’s a lot of weariness, a lot of shoulder shrugging, and not a lot of answers.   There’s a hero-shaped hole in the news of the day. All of the legitimate grownups are wondering, who on Earth is going to fix this mess?

At the same time, I am hearing people talk more about simplicity, about shedding the stuff that doesn’t matter. I don’t hear about brands, of cars or clothing, as much as I used to. I don’t see the just-under-the-surface competition about which house, which kid, which school is better. People are working on finding out what matters to them. They are seeking. Or maybe they just feel like they should be.

Can you feel it?

If you were stripped away of your status, your job title, your family, your house, your car, your friends, and your hobbies, who would you be? What about you will last? What is fundamentally important? And what are we doing here, anyway? Anyone who knows me knows I would much rather talk about something than nothing, but I find within the last year or so that it’s not just me and the other introverts at the party who are getting into the deep topics, but pretty much everyone. And it makes me curious. Is this just about my age, or about the bubble I occupy, or is this a universal trend?

It’s a strange juxtaposition, this drive to be purely who we are and the need to connect to something bigger. We are stripping down only to be built up better than before. We are declaring independence in order to belong to something that connects us all. I feel it. Do you?

Note to anyone kind enough to read this far: I would honestly love to hear your thoughts. On the rare occasion that someone reaches out to me about my writing, or comments on one of my pieces, it honestly makes my heart happy for days and makes me want to move in with them and live happily ever after, but if any of you would want to start a dialog about this particular topic, I would be so interested to hear what you have to say…. and I promise I won’t judge or move in with you unless you really want me to.

© my little epiphanies 2016 all rights reserved