There is no other way but forward, and The O'Jays.
Our way of living does not afford a perspective that allows us to see the whole view. The conditions that gives rise to existence, the principles of nature, and the cosmic unfolding that arises out of them, are beyond our reach because we are not separate from them. In other words, seeds and the ground they live in change each other. As one thing changes, so does everything it is connected to because all things exist in relationship; nothing is truly separate. The fundamental context of life is creativity and expression.
As beings we are all equally interwoven with life in ways that words will always fail to describe. Yet, our experience is ordinarily not from this open place of humility and grace as life moves through us. Instead, we experience ourselves as separate entities, with our own preferences, habits, desires, and personality. This inner world we inhabit is the safe place for us to form identity, to incubate, to individuate. As a stage in our development as a being, but also as a species, our process requires us to nourish ourselves with what is present within us upon arrival - just as a seed must consume itself in order to eventually sprout. Assimilation and integration in order to construct a stable place from which to experience the limitlessness of existence is one step in a long process. It would appear that collectively, as a larger organism, we are approaching the next step of our process on this planet. Transformation is upon us.
As we are brought more into the truth of our nature, confrontation and confusion are going to continue to arise. What was previously a safe and nurturing environment for our sense of self to grow and begin to sprout, is no longer viable and we must reach beyond what we already know. We can spend time struggling with the remnants of what brought us to this moment, vilifying or shaming ourselves or others, but we can also invite curiosity and humility into our process. We can investigate how past conditions, for whatever reason, were a necessary ingredient to allow us to arrive at the present. We can honor and leave space for grief, for harms done knowingly or unknowingly. We can see the ways that we carry countless expressions of the wide variety of human experiences passed down to us through ancestors known and unknown to us. We can also invite into our lives the mystery of cosmic forces, moving through and as everything, to move us into deeper and more harmonious relationships with ourselves, all forms of life, this planet, and to life itself.
None of these movements are measurable, gratifying, or profitable in the material sense. But the effort we make in allowing ourselves to be more open and vulnerable to the process of transformation is invaluable and inevitable. There is no sense in claiming ownership or agency of this "sprouting" process, because it is ultimately not something we, as ultimately insignificant individual human beings, do. Instead, what is responsible are the same forces that plant us in fertile ground as seeds, that create the impulse within us to change form and sprout, and that drive us to flourish and nourish the soil from which we grew.
Although it might seem impossible to imagine a path forward individually or collectively the field of possibility is not nearly as limited as our imagination. We would be overwhelmed with joy if we had the capacity to see how mysterious and beautiful the play of cosmic forces truly are. Genuine expressions of love, affinity, generosity, cooperation, and dignity are available to us by meeting obstacles with enthusiasm, compassion, and inviting the presence of grace. There is no other way but forward. The O'Jays sing it so clearly in their track, "Put Our Heads Together."