Thanks for this post on connection and noticing all the ways we are already connected. I've been reflecting this week about all the delivery drivers and postal workers who help me stay connected and make life so much more convenient. Even with their nonstop pressure to deliver so many items, I find if I take the time to make eye contact and smile they always smile back. I also found that my actions to make their life "easier" by putting a sign to deliver packages at the end of the driveway actually made some of them concerned. One delivery person saw me outside and said he felt so bad leaving my packages out in the elements he worried about it each day. It's funny how we often notice the one or two disgruntled drivers who might carelessly drop things and leave, but forget that many others are being even more thoughtful than we would anticipate.
I delivered a bouquet of flowers with fragrant herbs to a donor to a charity I volunteer for. She was out of her office so I left it with a note. On my walk home I greeted the school crossing guard with “Good morning.” She replied “Good afternoon.” I pointed to my watch and said, It’s five minutes till noon, still morning. We both had a good laugh. Looking for my hat trick of connection, I offered to carry the hand weights our yoga teacher used with our class today. She expressed heartfelt thanks that resonated with me. It is all about awareness
I've been practicing connecting with others, trying to see that, like me, everyone wants to be happy and avoid suffering. This week I went to have my blood drawn, and the attendant didn't even look at me and proceeded mechanically. I was worried she might hurt me, but instead of getting angry and reacting harshly, as was common a while ago, I tried to look at her with compassion and asked, "Are you okay?" She said yes, and I think at that moment she softened somehow and took the blood very carefully and gently. There were no marks, and I didn't feel any pain. I left hoping she would be okay, and she looked at me shyly at that moment. It was so good!
for me, I prioritise connection to myself at the start and end of the day. I like a slow start and end to the day, being in a quiet space, spending mindful moments either through movement, sits, reading or reflection. I feel when I make the effort to connect to myself and practise self care, I can be more present in the presence of others.
When I moved to Africa as a white woman, I initially was very scared of the local people. They felt very alien to me: no sense of connection. While driving my car I started to practice metta/maitri for all those people I passed. and, with time, my fear and sense of disconnection disappeared.
Something else: I wonder about the relationship between (sense of) loneliness and feeling that one's life is meaningless. Carl Jung wrote about how (sense of) a meaningless life and premature death are linked.
Thanks for this post on connection and noticing all the ways we are already connected. I've been reflecting this week about all the delivery drivers and postal workers who help me stay connected and make life so much more convenient. Even with their nonstop pressure to deliver so many items, I find if I take the time to make eye contact and smile they always smile back. I also found that my actions to make their life "easier" by putting a sign to deliver packages at the end of the driveway actually made some of them concerned. One delivery person saw me outside and said he felt so bad leaving my packages out in the elements he worried about it each day. It's funny how we often notice the one or two disgruntled drivers who might carelessly drop things and leave, but forget that many others are being even more thoughtful than we would anticipate.
I delivered a bouquet of flowers with fragrant herbs to a donor to a charity I volunteer for. She was out of her office so I left it with a note. On my walk home I greeted the school crossing guard with “Good morning.” She replied “Good afternoon.” I pointed to my watch and said, It’s five minutes till noon, still morning. We both had a good laugh. Looking for my hat trick of connection, I offered to carry the hand weights our yoga teacher used with our class today. She expressed heartfelt thanks that resonated with me. It is all about awareness
I've been practicing connecting with others, trying to see that, like me, everyone wants to be happy and avoid suffering. This week I went to have my blood drawn, and the attendant didn't even look at me and proceeded mechanically. I was worried she might hurt me, but instead of getting angry and reacting harshly, as was common a while ago, I tried to look at her with compassion and asked, "Are you okay?" She said yes, and I think at that moment she softened somehow and took the blood very carefully and gently. There were no marks, and I didn't feel any pain. I left hoping she would be okay, and she looked at me shyly at that moment. It was so good!
for me, I prioritise connection to myself at the start and end of the day. I like a slow start and end to the day, being in a quiet space, spending mindful moments either through movement, sits, reading or reflection. I feel when I make the effort to connect to myself and practise self care, I can be more present in the presence of others.
When I moved to Africa as a white woman, I initially was very scared of the local people. They felt very alien to me: no sense of connection. While driving my car I started to practice metta/maitri for all those people I passed. and, with time, my fear and sense of disconnection disappeared.
Something else: I wonder about the relationship between (sense of) loneliness and feeling that one's life is meaningless. Carl Jung wrote about how (sense of) a meaningless life and premature death are linked.