Monday morning a-ha about connection
I was reading a few comments from over the weekend, about how people are responding to the crisis in the gulf and I had a simple little a-ha:
Tragedy exists to help us connect
Connection can happen in many ways. We can respond by giving money, by changing our habits, by becoming activists. We can respond very personally, by writing and talking and making art about our experience.
Ground Zero, NYC
The connection is what’s important here, because through it, we create recognition and understanding in a community way, and through that we become the changes we want to see in the world, collaboratively.
Connection can be hard
When I am confronted by tragedy, I want to hole up in the house of awesome. I don’t want to connect. I want to be alone and feel the entirety of it, to understand before I respond.
That’s okay.
The day will come when I will be ready to connect and act.
What say you? How are you responding to tragedy? Or perhaps, how are you connecting?
I’m dealing with the tragedy of a family member. Although at times I’d like to crawl into a cave, it’s really people who have gotten me through this time. So many have shown concern and offered prayers – all that helps more than they probably realize. No matter how someone choses to connect (email, phone, texting, personal visit), it’s always helpful.
I also value the synergy that comes from people gathering for a common reason. We learn and become motivated from the energy from others. Group together and you’ll accomplish more than you each would individually.
Ok, done rambling. Good post to make us think, Bridget!
I’m with you, Bridge — my response is to not go into it. I feel like — there are so many things to focus on and so many good things happening in the world… why am I obligated to donate some feel-bad time to a situation that is entirely out of my control? I don’t see how my going into that makes anything over there better. I noticed that Kevin Costner made a machine to clean the water, and that is something happy to focus on. I also can imagine positive outcomes for all of this — that oil companies, the government, society gets a serious wakeup call about environmental policies, green energy alternatives, and basic respect for life on the planet. I don’t know if this is related, but I also noticed that Warren Buffet is giving away 99% of his empire to philanthropy in an effort to encourage the mega-rich to follow his example. It’s all part of my philosophy of trying to look for things I want to see and saying “yes, more of that please!” instead of pushing against that which I don’t want. It can be hard not to worry when everyone around you is worrying, when your parents taught you to worry, when worrying is what is expected of you… but I think worry disconnects one from one’s higher self, and that is of service to no one.
P.S. BUT not to knock worry. All the people who are worrying about the BP oil spill are doing the invaluable work of asking for something other than what we’re looking at right now — clean water, environmental responsibility, fuel alternatives, etc. All of which are quite worth asking for in a strong way! In fact, I bet we’ve never asked for those things in a stronger way than we are now.
Words, come easy.
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