CONNECTEDNESS

Now, more than ever, I understand the meaning of the word connectedness. I am a strong believer in the power of collaboration, but I am an even more curious learner of the deeper underlying force of connectedness. I have been exploring these concepts from various angles of my professional and personal life for a while now.

 Connectedness, in my view, has two aspects:

 ·       The realization that the happy existence of ME can reside only within the happy co-existence of US.

·       The wisdom that the first person one needs to connect with is one's own self.

 Once we realize both these aspects, we then have the fun task for the rest of our lives finding a fine balance between the two. This task, like any other, requires practice, patience, and time. We will falter, we will forget, and we will happily delude and isolate ourselves from the larger connected world. This is a lovely escape, forgetting the reality for brief moments can give us the happy warmth of a blanketed existence. Just closing our eyes to the larger picture can sometimes take us through that one difficult day.

 Then comes a moment when we have to face a reality like the one hitting us now – a global pandemic – a moment powerful enough to throw that blanket away and shake us awake. It forces us to think about the true nature of connectedness. We see people, technology platforms, scientific communities, businesses, and even nations coming together to collaborate. The voices of collaboration resonate louder than those of competition. We see people sacrificing their health and safety, their personal freedom, and in many cases their livelihoods to ensure that humanity is equipped to tackle this situation. At a deeper level one could comment that as a species we are learning to adapt – not by the "survival of the fittest" formula but by the "survival of all of us" formula. There is emerging tangible evidence of our larger connection with the animal and plant world where nature and other species start thriving when humans humbly give up the extra space we occupy with our blankets – forcing us to accept that we have the power through our connected actions to keep the larger US alive. We are experiencing connectedness in a spiritual sense while ironically physically distancing ourselves.

 This period of physical distancing, on a positive note, is also a time for self-reflection. During this period, the second aspect of connectedness calls out for our attention. Are we still in tune with ourselves? Turbulent situations like this have the power to shake us to our core. It can bring out emotions and actions which we don't recognize or may have forgotten while we were cozy in our blankets. Let us pause and take the time to acknowledge these emotions. Let us navigate our inner worlds with the same respect that we give our outer world. May our actions during these days stem from empathy – towards others of course, but towards ourselves too. We are but connecting with our selves.

"Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu" May the whole world be happy  - ancient Indian mantra for global well-being

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