The truth in connection is that it is vital to our existence. We have a deep rooted need to belong, a need to be heard, a need for kinship not only with each other but with the earth itself.

The weather is turning up here in the north. You can feel the change in the wind. You see the barren ground empty of snow, and slowly people are starting to come out of hiding. They are biking, running, walking dogs and babies. Kids are coloring on sidewalks, tossing balls and blowing bubbles. Gardens are starting to get cleared away. It’s too early for planting still, but seeds are being started in windows. The small green seedlings breaking through, reaching for the light. The cold grey blanket of winter is being pulled away and it all seems to be coming alive again.

Life and energy is pouring out and connecting us back to each other. To the earth. To the spirit inside of us that is slowly waking up after months of isolation.

In a time and space where we are disconnecting at an alarming rate, we MUST…we NEED…find our points of entry for connection.

We are lost without it.

Our families are lost without it.

Our communities are lost without it.

Our earth is lost without it.

Our future is lost without it.

It is essential to our humanity to belong, to be seen.

As we attempt to discover how to become involved, it is important to ruminate on the juxtaposition that often is involved in connection.  There is a good and bad that comes with this feeling of belonging.  A need to get dirty to feel connected to the earth.  The necessity of speaking your mind and potentially offending someone else in order to be heard.  There is this messy balance that is different for each person, but to avoid the mess is to slip into apathy and to miss out on life, to miss out on the emotions and the ups and downs that help us learn and grow and find depth.

Connection is real and honest and critical and simple and difficult.

Connection is paying attention to a longing while simultaneously being satisfied with what you have.

Connection is what keeps us grounded while giving us the feeling of flying.

Connection is the lightness of peace along with the heaviness of contempt.

Connection is touch, kisses, hand holding, eyes seeing, ears hearing.

Connection is the earth’s dirt on your feet, the rain on your face, the stick in your hand.

Connection is music, painting, sculpting, writing, singing, carving, drawing, dancing, talking.

Connection is prayer, meditation, stillness, laughter, weeping, sitting, moving.

Connection is intimate and public.

Connection is personal and universal.

A global voice for peace and human value, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has said, “When belongness begins, corruption ends.”

Connection is essential.