Monthly Archive for October, 2011

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, dear reader.

Wherever you may be as you read this, I hope that it finds you sitting comfortably with something good to drink nearby, because everything we’ve ever known may be about to change… for the better.

What would you do if you thought the world was going to end in 7 days? Or, coming at it another way, what if you thought the planet was going to be reborn into a Golden Age very soon?

I realize this isn’t directly related to travel; but I feel some responsibility to alert you guys if it’s possible something very important is looming on the horizon… something that may come to light in just the next 7 days. Add to that how rapidly events have been occurring lately, the mounting feelings of uncertainty, and the grassroots financial protests that are currently happening globally, and you’d basically have to be a goon to think we don’t live in noteworthy times.

And, believe it or not, there are a fair number of people who think that something of great significance will happen in the midst of all this, next friday on October 28th. You’ve probably heard some of the hubbub around the Mayan calendar ending in 2012. Well, according to Carl Johan Calleman, who is one of the top Mayan researchers in the world, the December 2012 date was miscalculated. He and others have re-calculated that the real date is October 28, 2011.

Is a Golden Age coming?

To be clear, he doesn’t think the apocalypse is going to happen next week. That would be as foolish as the people who thought that the end of the world was going to happen back in May, spending their entire life savings by the 21st of that month. (Seriously, look it up if you don’t believe me.)

Far from it, he sees it as a slow transformation of the world with people beginning to experience what he calls a heightened ‘unity consciousness’. Basically, this would manifest as you and I coming to a deeper understanding of how we are connected as living beings on this planet. It would reveal the Oneness that underlies all members of the human species and reveal hidden connections.

Signs that We are becoming One People

Calleman sees the Universe as being created in a series of waves, with each wave 20 times shorter than the previous one. Each wave has driven the complexity of the universe to a higher level, starting with matter, then life, multicellular life, animal families, human tribes, nations, planetary awareness, and finally awareness of our place in the Milky Way galaxy itself.

Clearly, we’re not quite at planetary awareness yet, but one thing I agree with Calleman on is that we’re getting close. Just look at the way the web is breaking down the borders between nations. The veil is beginning to fall away to reveal that we have more similarities than differences.

As I said before, Calleman says all of this culminates in what he describes as ‘unity consciousness’. Quite different from a negative event, he sees the end of this huge cycle as the completion of the creation process of the whole universe.

Pretty heady, isn’t it?

Don’t Cling to Expectations, Just Be Open

At any rate, I’m not going to hold my breath that some breakthrough is necessarily going to happen next week, and I don’t recommend you go in with expectations either. What I do recommend is that you enter the next week with a heightened sense of awareness. There is a chance that something truly novel could happen on or around that date, so I’m going to be sure to listen to my intuition on all counts. (By the way, you can read more about Calleman’s interesting views on this subject at the wiki, and I recommend you check out his latest article about the end of the calendar and the changes that the Earth is experiencing.)

Is the end Metaphorical or Literal?

So I ask you once more. What if everything changed on Friday? How would you react?

Incidentally, next Saturday (the day after Calleman’s end date) I have the honor of hosting the Traveler’s Show & Tell blog carnival. It’s poised to be pretty great; and depending on what does or doesn’t happen on Friday, that Saturday blog carnival could be a bit more interesting than usual.

Of course, it’s quite possible that absolutely nothing of significance could happen on that date. Perhaps it’s purely symbolic in nature, intended to remind us of our connections. Perhaps it’s more. In either case, I hope you use the following week to reflect on your awareness of those around you, how much you value them, and how you impact them. After all, humans are tribal creatures, and our connections are our most valuable asset.

Whatever happens, I’m thankful to be living in such interesting times.
Aren’t you?