THE FUTURE IN US
This one is personal.
It names the limitations I have faced—as a Black woman, a healer, a nomad—and reframes them.
Your otherness is not a burden. It is the medicine this world is waiting for.
*Image found on Pinterest. All Rights belong to the original creators. *
If it’s not because I am Black, it’s because I am a woman.
If it’s not because I am a woman, it’s because I am in an interracial partnership.
If it’s not that, it’s because I do not have the right credentials to manoeuvre geopolitical relations with ease.
If it’s not that, it’s because my work — Acupuncture, healing, medicine that has existed for thousands of years — is dismissed and unrecognised.
If it’s not that, it’s because I don’t come from wealth, the kind that erases barriers with money.
If it’s not that, it’s because my cultural upbringing is different.
If it’s not that, it’s because of a language I don’t yet speak; therefore, barriers of entry arise.
And if it’s not that, it will be something else, waiting to remind me that I am the “other.”
Our world is built on systems designed to exclude, limit, and silence.
It asks us to be grateful for scraps of belonging when we have every right to claim space in this world.
Our world of borders, bureaucracies and systems of governance pretends to be neutral when it is anything but.
Humans are nomadic by nature. We have always moved, always crossed paths, always built lives across lands. Yet the modern world insists on walls, on paperwork, on categories that reduce us to statistics and case numbers.
I am not a case, and neither are you
I am not a problem to be managed, and neither are you
I am a whole human being with skills, vision, culture and power, and so are you.
I refuse to shrink to fit into the narrow boxes drawn for me.
And you should too-,
Refuse to be limited by these archaic visions of the future.
Dear Reader,
I welcome you to use the format above to write your own set of “limitations” that you have endured, faced or navigated. I encourage you to consider your differences not as a hindrance but as the restorative medicine our world needs.
For too long in our collective human history, many have been excommunicated and chastised for being different. If being unconventional were truly an aberration, why would nature insist upon it? Why would nature scatter new species across time, invite and invent fresh patterns, reconfigure the familiar? The status quo preserves, yes, but novelty transforms. And without transformation, even preservation collapses.
We stand in a liminal moment of our collective history and consciousness. As I have mentioned previously in Spirit Time, our consciousness is not a solitary endeavour; it is interdependent. We rise and fall together in our consciousness.
Higher states of consciousness avail themselves to us when the foundation of our consciousness has been tended to, when the lowest has been uplifted to new heights of agency and understanding. In essence, we ascend together; we are each other’s keepers. The whole must be intact and functioning well to advance beyond our imaginations: we cannot move forward without each other.
The unorthodox are nature’s agents of change; they are born to challenge, revolutionise what has become stagnant, dull and lifeless.
Instead of recognising these agents of change as powerful transformers, our world labels them as trouble-makers, disruptors, dangerous criminals… If you are an agent of change, dear reader, I am sure you have your own list of nicknames you have received over the years.
The purpose of nicknaming, of condemnation and denunciation, of continuous obstacles on your path, is to discourage you from deviating from the status quo. Sometimes these tactics are more than just discouragement; they threaten your person, livelihood, family and much more.
There are moments when being different feels like a burden that cannot be shaken off. Sentiments such as “Why me? Why is this happening to me? Why am I the scapegoat? Why are things not working for me?” occupy the mind and spirit. These feelings stem from a lack of support, loneliness and a longing to belong, and yet, no such comfort is found.
To be different is, unfortunately, to be exiled. Change-makers shake and disrupt the mundane, and in a world devoted to the familiar, novelty is rarely welcomed.
Unconventionals, change-makers, and disruptors infuse light into the darkest shadows. They unearth skeletons, unveil hidden truths, and articulate what has long been unseen, freeing us in the process. They brighten and harmonise the will of the conscious, subconscious and unconscious for themselves, their family lineages, and the collective consciousness.
Therefore, their work, as unappreciated or undervalued as it may be, becomes the template that encourages novelty, fosters change, and invites new beginnings.
As we navigate our chaotic world, I want you, dear reader, to see your ‘impediments’ not as barriers, but as the seeds of an emergent future. Our world will no longer be solely defined by our loyalties to our families, our clans, our places of origin, or our languages. There will be no ‘Purity’ of lineage and tradition as people move across continents, bringing love, life, and culture into new spaces.
This fusion of traditions and values reshapes the landscapes we call home, creating something entirely new. This fusion is what also allows for transformation; it urges us to contemplate that there may be many paths, and possibly, change should be welcomed with open arms.
You, dear reader, are the frontier of a new emerging world, holding many qualities that the world will need.
Change-makers tend to be ahead of their time. Nature deliberately places you among people, places, and circumstances where you may feel like an outlier.
You are not a mistake; you are a prototype of what is emerging, a living manifestation of what is to come.
Your ideas and vision may not have a home yet, but this is not a sign of error on your part.
Many of us have been conditioned to think that if plans do not unfold as expected, it suggests that we have erred, or we have not done enough, or something is faulty with us.
Unfortunately, we have been trained to shoulder personal blame for societal failures, to assume responsibility for systems built on prejudice and inequity—systems that impede our plans, delay our actions, and shape our perceived ‘failures.’
I cannot control that my blackness will be seen as otherness, whether that othering serves me or not. I cannot alter how bureaucracies perceive me, nor the geopolitical structures that circumscribe my potential and my ability to contribute fully. These barriers exist beyond my own personal efforts, and to ask individuals to bear the weight of collective failures is deeply cruel and unjust.
For the change-makers, whose purpose lies beyond the conventional and the acceptable, cultivating your dreams and visions into tangible form while navigating systems that constantly “other” you, can be an overwhelming, exhausting and painful experience.
However, the external setbacks and constraints are not a measure of your worth or capacity.
They are, instead, a mirror of our collective consciousness- of where we are as a society, and how ready we are to receive the newness that you carry. The externals will teach you to value your worth, but they do not measure what is already intrinsic in you.
Another purpose for postponements and barriers is to discourage you from following what I have previously called soul-fire. Soul-fire is an aspect of one’s spirit; it is the medium through which the spirit can channel itself on this physical plane. When you lead a life guided by your internal compass rather than external pressures, you cannot be easily manipulated, controlled or led astray.
To pursue a life with a vibrant and awakened soul-fire is to stand in defiance against the prevailing consciousness. It is to claim the one power we all possess but are taught to forget: the power to choose, to decide, and to exercise sovereignty over our own lives. A life with an awakened soul-fire resists conformity, complacency, and what the world would rather we abandon- our freedom.
Moreover, these systems of confinement and detours are designed to make us forget how much agency we have in our lives.
We live in constant negotiation with them; testing how far the boundaries stretch, how quickly change can be enacted, how much resistance can be overcome. It is a relentless struggle ( I am truly sorry), yet it reflects the consciousness we currently inhabit:
one that glorifies struggle, seeks it, and insists that all good things must be won through it.
We have yet to imagine a world where harmony is the operating system, where co-operation and not conflict is the way forward.
Your otherness and your struggle against limitations and delays, dear reader, are not proof of failure, but rather a whisper of what has yet to come.
We are individual melodies in an ongoing chorus of freedom, of justice, of a future we yearn for and hope for. A softer world, a just world, does not arrive on its own; we are the hope, the dreamers, the stewards of our future.
Our liberation is not god-given; it is discovered in one another, in our shared spirit, and in the quiet courage to honour our inner compass—the voice of Spirit within.
Your dreams, visions, and ideas matter, dear reader. When this world limits and denies your vision and ‘others’ you in the process, pause and remember this: you are not at fault. There is nothing wrong with you. Our world may not be ready to accept you yet. It is natural to be heartbroken and saddened when plans go awry, but do not mistake detours and resistance as destiny.
You may have to wait, reshape, reimagine, seek help, or live through different versions of your dream before it finds its place. But never let the obstacles convince you that you are unworthy. The deferments of the world are not a measure of your capacity, nor of your worth.
The most important thing, dear reader, is to keep moving. Do not let the wait numb you into inaction. Despite all the pushback, build your vision, tend to it, however small or grand your circumstances allow.
It is through action that we change the world. Each soul-fire creation—whether it solves a problem, reimagines a system, or opens doors to new possibilities—becomes both a practice of personal sovereignty and a gift to the collective. This is the essence of life: to live our dreams while co-creating with one another and with the Earth itself.
This is the truth we must remember: you are both a dreamer and a maker, the fire and the flame.
So, dear reader, do not consider the traits that ‘‘other’’ you to be burdens; rather, they are beacons, whispers of a future in the making. You are the future. In your complexities, your ability to belong to many worlds, in the visions you carry of what has not yet materialised—you are what we have been waiting for. Do not let the delays, limitations and resistance tell you otherwise. You are the future.
* Images sourced via Pinterest. All rights belong to the original creators.*