Even with the vast social networks and instant communication we have available to us, many of us feel alone.
We feel separate and isolated from others. Our longing for deep and meaningful connection is tangled up in the facades that we carry and try to match to another’s. And we think we are alone in this.
Tools like the mind and ego that have been given to us to use for our soul’s path take over the controls and start calling all the shots. In this state, the ego cries out “What about Me?!” at each exchange, and the mind, which can tell us to go in a thousand directions at once, causes us to live in a constant state of longing and unfulfillment.
The ego serves as a boundary that provides us with a unique, personal experience of consciousness. As a drop in the ocean, we signed up for an experience of separation within the ever-present experience of unity. Our goal is to transition seamlessly from one to the other, holding both as our reality with mastery.
The mind will lead us to expand and can help us move forward with details and planning. But if we let the mind command the ship we can find ourselves lost at sea. The perfect captain of the ship sits below the mind in the heart center.
When we live in our hearts, we feel a deep connection to our own purpose, our mission, and we also feel a deep connection to everyone else on their own path. The division that the mind and the ego create are tempered with the realization that separation is an illusion.
When we practice yoga, meditate, or go into ceremonial consciousness it is easy for us to be in that oneness that the mystics speak of. It is when we open our eyes and move back into the world that it is so easy to set aside the inter-connected awareness. We get in our cars and drive to our homes and close our doors behind us, again coming back into the illusion of separation.
The more we step into the space of connection, the more the awareness remains with us, even in moments of challenge. In fact, it is in the moments of challenge that we can more easily see our inter-dependence. When disaster strikes, we band together as neighbors with those who were previously strangers. Their suffering becomes our suffering and we offer our love, our work, and our prayers to help them.
Those of us that reach out to others during times of challenge are far better off emotionally and physically due to the diffusion of stress once it is spoken and shared and support made available. Just a call to one friend can completely change our outlook on a situation or can take the intensity out of our situation.
Even when, especially when, we feel awkward about reaching out it is exactly what we should do. Personally, I feel a deep sense of connection each time someone shows me what is really going on in their lives and allows me to be witness to their challenges and growth. It is a sign to me of the depth of our connection and I value that more than words can share.
We are social creatures. We need each other and can never be separated from one another. Remind yourself that separation is an illusion and reach your hand out for support. A hand is there to meet you.
