Melting ice. Raging wildfires. Drought and floods. Tornados, land slides and extreme temperatures. I could go on, but I think you get the picture.
We’re in the midst of a climate crisis where the natural elements are totally out of balance. Even if many of us do what we can to act responsibly, huge corporations continue focusing on economic growth instead of trying to solve the problems. What can we do?
The outer world is but a reflection of our inner worlds.
To understand this, we need to embrace the concept that we create our own reality. We don’t simply create what we think about, we create what we ARE. If we move around in life with inner conflicts, or have lost our inner balance, this will be re-created in the world we experience around us. Especially if we are not consciously aware of it.
So if our world is in such a crisis, this must be telling us something very important. As a collective, we are all part of this imbalance. So instead of observing the outer disasters, we can swing our magnifying glass around 180 degrees and look inside. Let’s focus on the wilderness within.
Something is out of whack. We have lost our balance.
When everything is in balance (on an outer as well as inner level) the elements of water, air, fire and earth interact in an intricate dance. Neither water nor soil, heat nor cold, dominate. Yin and yang are in balance. But, if equilibrium is disturbed, the scale begins to tip to extremes.
These four elements are also the basic building blocks of our psyche. The fifth element, ether, permeates the other four and move the energy.
(Read more about the basics of the elements in Design for the Soul)
The elements are a part of our inner world.
This is how can we translate the four basic elements to human experience:
Water is about our feeling world and our instincts.
Air represents our ideas and social interaction.
Fire is passion, life force.
And earth is our physical body, as well as the practical, material realm.
How well are they balanced in your own life? Have you put your career before your emotional well-being? Have you lost the spark of passion due to an over-emphasis on the practical things in your life? Do you carry around toxic thoughts and feelings? Take some time out to think about that. Meditate to get a picture of the state of your inner landscape. Is it too dry? Too windy?
Once you figure out which elements are weak or over-emphasized, there is a cure.
Clothes, especially visual patterns on fabrics, are an excellent tool to help balance the elements. They work as a form of functional clothing. If you are very bad at organizing the practicalities of life you can incorporate a checked garment in your wardrobe. And if the world of feelings is a difficult place to be for you, there are patterns to help you slowly get used to spending more time there.
So look at your own internal balance. Take responsibility for your part of our collective crisis. And then, do something about it. Become more aware… deal with the conflicts… and use tools to find inner balance!
Stay tuned for a new series about the elements and clothes!
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