We Are All Connected, How Can We Be More Intentional About This?

This morning I was reading one of my favorite books about wildcrafting, Wild Remedies by Rosalee de la Foret. It's a great beginning book about herbalism and this is the third time I’m reading it. There was a part where she is talking about having a sitting spot to observe nature and I started to think about it, I’ve always had a sitting spot. When I was a kid it was at the shore of Long Island at the peer on Cedar Beach. When I lived near Syracuse NY it was at the shore of a lake in a town park. Now where I live also in upstate NY it’s right on my family's property. We have it all, fields, woods, ponds, creeks, and an abundance of wildlife. 

The Author goes on to talk about how to observe nature and watch how everything is connected and how they all serve each other, support one another, and live in this perfect dance called nature. 

I love sitting on this little bench we have next to the creek on our property and a beautiful garden where we sprinkled my mom's ashes. The bench sits below this very supportive oak tree that gives the perfect amount of shade from the sun. This is my sitting spot and has been for a long time.

Last night I was watching the birds with all their babies. Many different kinds with many babies and then a crow came along. All the mamas were not happy about this and to protect their eggs I assume thy all together as a team chased the crow away. Teamwork. They use what's available to them in nature to build their nests and feed their growing families. The more you watch, the more you realize everything is all connected. Including us, humans.

Over many decades we have been programmed to not think of ourselves as connected communities but rather as individuals that need to protect themselves only. This disconnection only hurts all of us. The more we work together as a community the more we all will feel safe, secure, happy, and fulfilled as people. The moment you separate yourself from someone and believe you couldn't possibly be connected to “that” person. That's when you disconnect yourself from all the benefits of being a part of a community.

I believe it's really sad how disconnected we all are, it’s a part of being human to be connected. It’s a human need to be a part of a community yet there are so many people toughing it out by themselves, they are struggling, lonely, scared, and barely surviving. This is how I felt when I was a single mom raising my kids. Instead of being supported by my community, I was judged by most, including my own family. So I tried to do it all by myself, it was horrible, stressful, and scary. I survived, but that's about it and I don’t know about you but I don’t want to just survive, I want to live and be happy. 

So this week's self-care practice is to find your sitting spot and observe. Observe until you can see, the connection. It’s everywhere. 

Then bring this observation into your daily life. Before you judge someone know that we all have challenges and none of us know what that other person is dealing with. Try to think about why that person is the way they are. What circumstances brought them to where they are and then KNOW that this can be you? Have compassion for the other humans on the planet. 

I believe the one thing we all have in common is that we all want to feel good, healthy. We want our families to be safe, secure, and happy, and we just want to live our lives peacefully. I know so many people are so far from this and I think the question to ask is, what got them to that point?

Happy Sitting.

Xo, T