Welcome to Interrelated Planet. This blog is a sharing of stories, musings, anecdotes, ideas and field work that quilts together our collective hearts, minds and actions in relation to our beloved planet Earth.
Let’s be honest: we are living in anxiety-provoking times. The world bombards us 24-7 with reports of bad and worse happenings from all corners of our planet. The technology surrounding us has given us a two-edged sword, enabling us to magically retrieve the answer to nearly any question our minds want answered simply by asking Google on the one hand, while enticing us with all manner of distractions to prevent us from face-to-face interconnections on the other. The age of technology is plunging full-steam into the future as many of us hang onto the handrails, hearts in our throats, wondering what new terror may be lurking around the next bend. On this careening, reckless, driverless ride, it’s easy to wonder just what on Earth IS happening here? To what end? How will we survive the next catastrophe that’s certain to occur somewhere in the immediate future? Or even more specifically, will we survive?
As easy as it can be to feel completely overwhelmed and run screaming away (as if such a place exists on a small planet housing upwards of 7.6 billion human beings), what is needed so desperately now, by us all, is to remain grounded, stay calm, and connect. Wherever you happen to be, with whomever is before you—whether of human, animal, plant or mineral kingdom—the cure for our societal dis-ease is connecting at heart level. Focus your attention, open your senses, and be with. That also includes yourself.
In order to master this, you must practice. As all students of meditation or mindfulness know, it doesn’t happen overnight. The forces working against you in the world are great. The temptation to shift your focus, turn away, change the song, get up, get a snack, a cigarette, a spliff, a beer, a pizza–a thousand things will call out to distract you. Persist. Learn to watch your own thoughts come and go like clouds passing across the azure sky. Notice the shadows of the setting sun spreading over the land, the houses, your own curtain, a friend’s face. Wonder at the changing colors as Helios makes it way lower and lower on the western horizon until everything is engulfed in deep purple. The sky changes from blue to gold and pink, with the peculiar absence of color above at the hushed moment of dusk. Liminal space is ever present when we open our minds and calm the noise enough to view the open door. We seek the opening, because our souls intuitively know that’s where freedom lies.
Interrelatedness refers to the connections among things, humans, and nature. It speaks to our connections with the most miniscule to the most vast mysteries of creation. The old paradigm of life on Earth told the story of separation, of survival of the fittest, of winners and inevitable losers, within those old textbook pages of history. Those days are nearly gone, thankfully. The new paradigm of life on Terra Gaia tells a different story: everything is connected in incredibly intricate, woven patterns that are constantly changing, dynamic, flowing, shifting in some kind of cosmic dance that we’ve only taken toddler steps towards understanding. It’s about time.
I welcome you to come along on this exploration of interrelatedness. Share your thoughts when you feel so inclined, and remember to be respectful and kind when you do. Let’s explore the journey towards wholeness with open hearts and minds.
Leigh Jardine, founder of Interrelated Planet.org
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