07.02.2020
Musing on trust as we approach the lion's full moon, a cornerstone too often taken for granted or abused. In a modern world that lauds myopia as focus and trades connection for echo chambers, trust too easily becomes a party of one crying out to be heard.
What does trust mean? It is curious how different our responses are to this question. It is one I explore constantly in shadow work. Your answer reflects both your belief and your bias. It encapsulates your experience and learning. It lays bare any artful dodging of full responsibility and total accountability. Trust isn't partial or conditional. It doesn't clock on and off.
The other side of the trust coin is betrayal, another inescapable life experience we endure in order to fully understand the nature of trust. Betrayal is a thorn that poisons the blood and muddies the water. It makes us wonder where and why we place our faith, revealing the awful truth of our own delusion. No one else is like you but we cling stubbornly to the idea that they will be.
All relationship - no matter the arena - is a house that trust builds, too easily demolished by a careless word or a thoughtless action. Whether we bemoan a nation's untrustworthy leadership or decry the slack jaws of false friendship, we cannot demand behaviour we are unwilling to inhabit ourselves. We are yet required to be the change we wish to see in the world. First.
To be trustworthy you must be a vault. A keeper of secrets whose currency you will never exchange. A place of sanctity and safety for those who tenderly rely on the architecture you offer. By sharing what is not yours to give away - whether gossiping or pontificating or, Endora forbid, "helping" - you are blowing up your own vault from the inside.
Trust is the greatest gift you can give another. It marks you a true spaceholder, a firm friend or a devoted other. It requires your discipline and demonstration. It is a constant vigil, a candle in the window and shelter in the storm. Trust begins and ends, lives and dies, with you.
Few delights can equal the mere presence of one whom we trust utterly.
~ George MacDonald
Art by Duy Huynh
Words c. Kerrie Basha 2020
Full moon readings - all of which are always held in the vault - this Sunday and Monday. DM to reserve your place at my table, darklings.