The arrival of consciousness is often preceded by a period of confusion, destruction, and uncertainty.

Consciousness has even been known to bring sudden upsets and changes along in its wake. Things may not go according to plan. Your old friend, Doubt, shows up and wants a place to stay.

People keep doing irritating things, such as filling the oceans with noxious poisons and taking the whole planet hostage. It’s easy to get mired in the muck, and you begin to wonder if anything can resolve this whole mess.

Several years back, I went to Joshua Tree State Park to see the annual blooming of the Joshua trees.

I joined a fascinating talk given by one of the park rangers, called ‘Meeting the Joshua Tree’, and learned about the mystical growth of these special trees. Each tree is unique and different, often markedly so. There is no genetic predisposition to become a perfect Joshua tree shape – each tree is a perfect Joshua tree and each is one of a kind, like fingerprints.

You've surely noticed that destruction is a recurring and uncontrollable part of life.

So is creation, but destruction is the energy that gets the bad rap. Destruction is judged as a negative, an unnecessary evil, and it often gets mixed up with other energies like anger, unkindness, and war. Bad, bad destruction! Destruction is the bad girl (or boy) of energies.

Some of what is said about destruction goes like this: good and nice people don’t willingly destroy a perfectly good thing, and women are not supposed to destroy at all.

If you’ve been feeling like you’re living in the middle of a storm, you’re not alone.

It can be easy to feel isolated and all alone during times of great duress and stress; times of clearing karma.

If one shoe after another keeps falling on you, it can also be easy to take it personally.

Though it’s not easy, it’s not necessarily personal, either. If you feel overwhelmed, know that it’s a time that will pass, much like a storm does.