An Empire Released

By the woman who changed it

She walked to the edge and looked down over her sprawling empire. Helena could feel the radiating energy of the collective activity of all her people. Having put so much energy into building her empire, it was good to feel the amplified return of that energy coming back to her. That had always been what empowered her and kept her going.

So why did she suddenly feel so powerless?

From her skyscraper balcony Helena gazed out at the massive city that had quadrupled in size since she came into power. It was a beautiful city complete with many lush green parks, awe-inspiring architecture, vibrant infrastructure design, and a population of people who lived productive and abundant yet peaceful and mostly anxiety-free lives. The residents of her empire were known around the world as the happiest people on the planet.

Her elders had told her that it could not be done. They told her that a male dominated, competition-based, every-man-for-himself society could not be changed except through implosive destruction. They said she was setting herself up for failure and bitter disappointment.

But Helena remembered feeling the vibrations of the city back when she was young. They were dissonant and chaotic and debilitating. Standing on her balcony, she could now feel new vibrations that were the complete opposite. She had done it. She had brought about the change that so many had longed for. She had proven her elders wrong.

So why did she now feel so despondent? Why did she feel like she was dying?

Helena knew the answers to these questions. It had all started a few weeks earlier when she had visited the oracle on the mountain. The oracle was never wrong. She was dumbfounded when the oracle told her that very grave challenges were soon to be faced by her empire. The giant city would experience problems never faced before. Its very existence would be in jeopardy. Monumental change was coming.

The oracle on the mountain went on to say that the one and only thing that Helena could do to help the people of the city was to immediately abdicate her leadership position. It was imperative that she release it all.

That phrase, release it all, had been reverberating in her thinking ever since she returned from the oracle on the mountain. At first it was utterly unthinkable. How could she release everything that she had built, leaving her empire to the fates? How could she turn her back on the people whose lives she had changed? How could she just quit and give up — especially knowing that potential doom was on the horizon?

But she thought back to the days when all positions of leadership were held by ego-driven, greedy men. One of the things so many of those men had in common is that they were incapable of release. To them, letting go of what they built was equivalent to failure. With all their might they held on to their positions and power for dear life. Consequently, the inevitable and natural waves of change that flow over all things was always met with resistance and therefore that change was always more difficult than need be.

To her dismay, Helena realized that release was also quite difficult for her. She started to understand why men were so resistant to change. To release is not easy. For Helena it was tearing her up inside.

But she knew that she had to do it. For the love of her empire she had to succeed where the men had failed. She had to release it all and step aside. No matter how difficult that was she simply had to do it. She had to become an example of release.

Turning away from the view of the city, Helena left the balcony and went inside. She took the elevator down to the floor where the Council of 22 were waiting for her to address them. Once in the council chambers, she proceeded to the empty spot at the north of the large round table.

Silently, she looked around the table at the 22 members of the council. There were 14 females and 8 males. These were the people who had helped her to bring great change to the city. They essentially governed the city according to what Helena had envisioned. They kept everything running. She trusted them all and suddenly she realized that she would miss every one of them.

And then she spoke, “I hereby announce that I am officially stepping down as leader of this empire.”

A murmur erupted around the table.

“But I do so with one caveat and that is that no one is chosen to replace me. From this moment forward there will no longer be any one individual leaders. The time of individual rulers is over. The empire instead will be governed by you; the Council of 22. Decisions will no longer be made by one person but rather by consensus within a council that represents all.”

“This has always been an ideal but it has never been fully implemented because our leaders have been unable to release their positions and their power. The time has come for me to take that step. It is time for me to release it all.”

“Effective immediately, the empire will be governed by this council and no one person must ever take command. This council must take collective command. Great change and upheaval are in the future and the council must resolve itself to meet all change and challenges with love and intelligence and awareness of the forces of the world the empire is part of. Every challenge presents you with the opportunity to further improve the collective state of life on this planet. You will no longer be simply following the directives of a leader but rather you will be following the directives of your hearts.”

“I thank everyone for the incredible work you have done. Without you, this city would not be the incredible place that it has become. My appreciation for all of you is very, very deep. You have helped bring about change and I trust that you will continue to do so. After all, change is a constant. Resistance creates friction and bad vibes. You must joyfully meet change and adapt and grow through it. Fighting is futile.”

“I love all of you and I release all of you. I hereby release everything. Everything. Effective immediately, I release my position. I hereby step down and turn everything over to you.”

After a long moment of silence a woman to the left of Helena asked, “So what are you going to do? Where are you going to go?”

Helena shrugged her shoulders, “I have no earthly idea.”

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction.

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