Clearly, we are living in radical times when almost everything can be taken to the extreme. We find ourselves in uncharted waters when it comes to the future of the planet and in unmapped territories in terms of human culture. In the midst of great uncertainty any moment can lead us to feel anxious, isolated and abandoned.

Life must be lived forward, but often can only be understood in looking back. Looking back far enough reveals that everyone has abandonment issues from early life fears of being left isolated and alone. As if insisting upon being faced, our core fears and anxieties intensify whenever we face the need to change or grow.

Early in life we were vulnerable and easily overwhelmed. Eventually, the issue becomes not just who abandoned us and why, but how we avoid abandoning ourselves when faced with fears and the uncertainty of life again.

In times of overwhelm, the deep self and soul within us also seeks to become more conscious to us. In the essential work of changing from within, each occasion of not abandoning ourselves liberates more of the divine spark that was sewn in our souls to begin with. The light we liberate within our souls also adds some life to a world in the process of transforming itself.

Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online event "The Soul of Change" on Thursday, April 30.

Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events

You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 750 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.

Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth

Along with these free weekly podcasts, you can now read free weekly essays and long form posts by Michael Meade on Substack. Learn more and subscribe at michaeljmeade.substack.com

If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our work.

On this excerpt from a Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade discusses the inherent longing for redemption and how it can be experienced as a life-seeking process rather than an end-of-life event. He explores the archetypes of creation and apocalypse, reframing the latter as an expression of the dynamic of collapse and renewal. Part of renewal involves connecting to vertical imagination, that goes deep into the unconscious, and can reveal the unique map of each soul's journey and help us become instruments for transformation and awakening.

You can hear the full episode and receive additional podcast content by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 750 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.

Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.

In this episode, Michael Meade tells an old story of someone who follows a dream that leads to being stripped down and stuck, before it unfolds a path to healing and wholeness. Bringing a dream to life means changing everything and change is most often accompanied by fear and resistance. Meade suggests that living a dream requires the courage to cross not only where others fear to go, but also to enter where we fear to tread.

Stories and dreams are about the mysteries of life. And penetrating the mysteries requires a different kind of vision and a different understanding than what we use to negotiate the common world. The dream that calls us to a greater life is also a bridge between worlds, and the depths of one's soul must first be plumbed if the gold would be found.

The world needs healing on so many levels, that there cannot be a single idea, simple process or common belief that ends all the conflicts and begins the healing. The missing ingredient, the deep medicine, the inner gold is hidden in our own hearts. Until we can loosen the stones that we have constructed to protect our vulnerable selves, we cannot find the inner medicine or the inner wisdom of the soul.

Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online event "The Soul of Change" on Thursday, April 30.

Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events

You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 750 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.

Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth

Along with these free weekly podcasts, you can now read free weekly essays and long form posts by Michael Meade on Substack. Learn more and subscribe at michaeljmeade.substack.com

If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our work.