When Connection Is Severed
Is it gone?
My sister and I always felt connected through our friends and family apps on our phones. Sometimes, we’d text each other about where we could see each other.
“How is Spain?” I’d ask.
Or she’d say, “Welcome home,” after I returned from a trip.
So the day her husband finally turned off her phone and I could no longer even pretend she still lived on this earth plane, I had to ask myself, How can I find her now?
“Well, in your heart, silly,” I imagined her saying. Because, of course, that will never change.
Because isn’t that where all connections exist?
Back when it became obvious that computers would be a permanent part of our lives, a friend asked me what I thought would happen. “Will people drift apart and live in separate worlds?”
My answer remains the same today as it was then.
It’s our choice. We can let technology give us more time to connect, or we can let it drive us apart.
It’s our reaction, our response to what feels like a disconnect, that makes the difference.
Even when my sister was no longer on my phone, I remained connected.
What we believed in together, our long history of silliness, and her following me into every class I taught and every book I wrote symbolized our perpetual connection.
Yes, technology can disconnect us. Too many hours staring at screens and not enough face-to-face with people and nature are obviously isolating.
But using it to free ourselves into imagination and the joy of creation will give us both the inspiration and time to lead us into communities and the world outside.
To reconnect.
Recent world events can also lead to feelings of disconnection.
It’s hard to think that others could feel so differently than we do. When some world events are based on manipulation and greed, that can make us all feel even more disconnected from those who are not like us.
Instead, it’s the time to find what’s true beneath it all.
Just as I can no longer see my sister on my find-a-friend app but can still feel her connection to me and life, we can also find another way to see our oneness with others in the world.
Despite what the worldview tells us is happening, we can claim that our connection is based on goodness and not on derision.
This is not really a choice.
Not if we ever want the world to find itself wrapped in the awareness of the invisible yet visible power of good once and for all.
We’ll never get there unless we demand connection.
This means we must listen to what we have in common and trust that goodness has the power.
And that starts with each of us taking action toward connection and claiming that goodness is the only power.
We have to act as if it does.
To trust.
To have faith.
When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
This reconnection begins with ourselves. Choose to connect more:
To the body that transports you through life.
To the essence of who you are.
To your life intent
To your life purpose
To your faith
To your family
To your friends
To your understanding that good is the only power, and to treat everyone as if that were true.
And as in all choices that require a shift of perception, it’s easier doing it together, connected to a common intent:
To choose good as the only power and to act out from and live from that point of view. To stay connected, even when we don’t want to.