Make the connection

It’s easy to get wrapped up in our personal concerns and challenges. It’s only natural for our daily lives to take center stage. Some people call it living in a bubble or living on another planet, however the demanding nature of existence often requires us to get self-involved. We do this in order to make it through difficulties and come out the other end seeing the light.

In modern societies, there is more emphasis than ever before on the individual — distinct and separate from all else — master of his or her own destiny. Our daily lives are often concerned with the development of ourselves or our immediate loved ones. We focus on how to be more confident and assert our individuality. I am unique, I am different could be our mantra or mystical invocation. There are definite benefits to this way of life, but sometimes we forget how much we share. We forget we are not just individual, solitary beings, but part of a richly diverse and interconnected universe, both physical and spiritual.

Being in touch with your connectedness to the universe can provide great comfort as the challenges of life arise. But how do you get in touch with this connectedness and weave it into your life? How can we adjust our mantra to I am whole, I am connected?

For thousands of years, healers, psychics, mystics, metaphysicians, medicine men and women, wise elders, philosophers, religious leaders and prophets have provided answers to these questions. Surprisingly, even science provides us with proof of our greater connection with the universe.

One mother, one tribe.
The skeletal remains of what is believed to be one of the earliest hominids, a human-like creature that lived about 3.2 million years ago, was discovered in 1974 in Ethiopia by anthropologist Professor Donald Johanson and his student Tom Gray. They deduced that the specimen was female and named her Lucy. Many now refer to Lucy as our common mother — a kind of Darwinistic Eve. Whether or not Lucy is indeed our common mother, evidence of her existence reminds us of our possible origins. Despite race, class and culture, we are of the same tribe, possibly even descended from the same mother.

We are connected energetically.
Many theories, even scientific ones, proclaim that everything in the world is energy. Acupuncturists manipulate human chi or life force energy to promote health and well-being. Feng Shui experts manipulate earth chi to promote well-being and prosperity via the environment. Reiki, a Japanese technique for stress reduction, healing and relaxation, works with life force energy via the laying on of hands. Many gifted people can see auras, the light energy that shines out from our bodies. Many are often unaware the slow, graceful movements of elderly people doing Tai Chi in the park are actually part of a powerful martial art that uses subtle energy transfer to defeat the opponent. If everything is energy, then everything is connected.

We are made of stardust.
If you doubt that we could be closely related to that tiny flickering speck of a star millions of light years away in the galaxy, think again! Every single element on earth, every fiber of our body, from our blood’s iron, to the carbon traces we leave behind when die, came from stars. Scientists have been able to analyze stardust and have found that all of the elements of our world are also the elements of star formation — in fact, originate in the process of star formation. So next time you look up at the sky and marvel at the beauty of the cosmos, remember that you are in part, marveling at the beauty of yourself!

Metaphysical connections.
What is metaphysics? The Greek roots of the word are meta (after/beyond) and physics (nature). Literally, metaphysics is the study of what is “beyond nature;” the study of the essence of things and their reason for being. Occult metaphysics looks to the spirit world for answers. Through a psychic, a loved one may reach out to us from beyond, reassuring us that they are watching over us. Through powerful divination tools like tarot, runes and the I-Ching, we often receive guidance informed by mysterious forces. Often, these sources are referred to as “otherworldly,” and yet, we have to ask whether or not this is the accurate word. If they come to us, are they not part of our world? Perhaps we need to change our perception of what the world is and recognize that it is much bigger and much more connected than we previously thought!

The general rule in business is that the more people you know, i.e. the more connections you make, the better off you’ll be. It makes sense that the more connected you are with universe, the better off you’ll be in life and spirit, too! Change the mantra from I am unique, I am different to I am whole, I am connected and a profound set of benefits becomes yours, including a sense of mission and belonging. Recognizing and honoring our connectedness to others, to plants, animals and even inanimate objects, helps us find perspective in a confusing and demanding world.