Boundaries in the 21st Century

We’ve all heard:

‘My freedom ends where yours begins’

‘Good fences make for good neighbors’

Advice that sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?

On paper, sometimes, yes

More accurately, these are increasingly tenets of a bygone era

The 21st century is almost synonymous with the words: synthesis, integration and merger

At it’s most extreme, the 21st century is all about disruption

So much about our daily lives has been disrupted

Careers are on the extinction list

Co-habitation is replacing homes

Global travel is increasingly more desirable than life savings

Cultural and ethnic thoroughbred’s are fewer and far between

Personal privacy is evaporating quickly

Monogamy, roles, gender and family is fluid at best and complicated and confusing at worst

Everything about our lives is more porous and available to everything and everyone

And so, back to the point of this post: navigating healthy boundaries

Where do we even go to define these new rules?

Who is writing them?

How do we navigate our preferences and uphold it’s perimeters on a daily basis?

How do we deal when we are trespassed?

How do we draw our own lines in the sand?

Are these delineated lines even remotely negotiable?

The skill of communication, empathy and understanding has never been more important and the lack-thereof can be utterly destructive to us and to our relationships

In today’s world, we must know ahead of time where we stand, what are all the possible variables?

Attempt to forecast how our boundaries will be perceived and received?

How to turn emotional reaction into tempered response when we are misunderstood or when our limits have been breached

This post is not so much about being prescriptive but more about highlighting and underlining the price of our new found freedoms

The cost is deep personal reflection, high atunement to others and the fierce dexterity of a Jedi during the implementation process

We have wanted to break free from these chains, to not be defined by or locked in by society, jobs, geography…and so here we are

We are getting freer and freer by the day, our wingspan spanning wider and wider

By definition a Highly Sensitive person is not unlike a bird in the trees overlooking the herd drinking at the watering hole

Part of the herd but not in it, always on the periphery looking out

Computing both micro and macro dynamics of the landscape, alerting to any dangers, scanning and noticing the choreography of each animal, the weather and the earth

Flying is a wondrous experience

Providing us with perspectives and dimensions previously unknown

In the name of self preservation, we must now master the take off, collision avoidance and a graceful landing

With the epic privilege of freedom comes the great responsibility of clear expression, open mindedness and unwavering empathy

As an HSP we must use our capacity to SEE to help navigate our own flight and support those around that do not yet see the dynamics in it’s entirety

It’s not easy work, perhaps not even enviable

Yet if WE don’t who will?

If WE don’t what will become of our human herd?

What will become of our interactions?

What will become of Mother Earth that has been so generously loaned to us?

Who else will outline the rules of engagement for the herd to put their heads down and enjoy a blissful drink of water?

As our reader, do you feel the landscape of boundaries changing? What have you noticed and how have you navigated these? What has worked well and what less so?

 

Pic credit via qimomo