The Interconnectedness of It All

We all want to feel connected.  Whether that’s to our mate, our children, our friends and family, our co-workers, our community, our planet or our God.

I believe that a lot of the discomfort we suffer is when we feel disconnected.  Is that what the explosion of social media is about?  Are people finding the connection they were seeking?  I don’t know.

We are strange creatures, we humans.  And we have been put in odd circumstances. As individualized facets of this whole, there is no one who is exactly like us.  We need no one else to live our lives well. Though we are so much more when we’re connected to another.

We are not dependent, but interconnected.  Our actions have far reaching consequences.  We are all made of the same stuff and have a connection that is not often apparent to our outer eye.

If we believe in this interconnectedness (and it is easy to see if we’re looking) and make an attempt to really feel it, we might never feel alone again.

Here is what some others have to say about it:

“The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
— Chief Seattle

“The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.”  – Yasutani Roshi, Zen master (1885-1973)

Far from making me feel different and special, my [spiritual] experiences made me feel the same, ordinary, and interconnected. If I felt more spiritual, everyone else felt more spiritual as well.”– Julia Cameron from God is No Laughing Matter

The reality today is that we are all interdependent and have to co-exist on this small planet. Therefore, the only sensible and intelligent way of resolving differences and clashes of interests, whether between individuals or nations, is through dialogue.  – The Dalai Lama

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us, “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security — Albert Einstein

Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.
— Martin Luther King, Jr

The welfare of each is bound up in the welfare of all.  — Helen Keller

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. ~ John Muir

We have a stake in one another … what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and … if enough people believe in the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done for the people with whom we share this Earth. — Barack Obama

“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ~ Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

Let it shine!