Connection Is The Key
Janine Rees 23rd April 2018 www.sparkt.com.au @sparktEd
My purpose in life is to advocate for equality, respect, authenticity and collaboration. We are all interconnected. No one thrives in isolation. Yet this is where the world seems to be headed. Children no longer play with each other in the real world, it's all done in the virtual world. People meet and date online. Work is moving to the virtual world. Meanwhile mental health issues are spiking ever upwards. We need to return to the real world and to do that we need to return to ourselves.
We have become so used to being busy that we don't know ourselves anymore. Our children's time is scheduled to the n'th degree. We need to stop and smell the roses, literally, before our busyness kills us. I am in the business of stoppping busyness. So much that we do is unecessary. We jump through so many hoops without really thinking of why we are doing it. Usually we are doing it to make somebody else a pile of money.
Often it takes a crisis for us to stop and take stock. Sometimes it's when our bodies give out that we are forced to spend time in stillness as we physically can not move. Other times it is a mental collapse that starts the process of stopping the busyness. It may be an emotional upheaval that rocks us to the core. But you don't have to wait for collapse before doing something to change your life for the better.
The first thing we must know and realise is that we are equal to all others, and when I say all I mean ALL. Every single man, woman and child is of equal worth. We are all equal but we are not all the same. We are all so very beautifully different. This needs to be recognised and celebrated. Each person deserves respect. Respect is not something that ought to be earned, it is a given. It is deserved. One of my favourite sayings is be yourself, everyone else is taken.
To really know ourselves we must spend time with ourselves. We must respect ourselves above all else. We can't offer respect to others when we do not have it for ourselves. Practice self love for the divine creature you are. There are no mistakes in nature, just look at the sunrise or sunset to realise how perfectly attuned the natural world is and remember that you are a part of that plan. You are not your thoughts or your emotions, they are a part of you, you control them.
Take the time to get to know yourself, warts and all. We all have light and shadows. Sit on the ground, feel the beautiful warm earth beneath you. Look at the beauty in nature. Just be. Do this for at least ten minutes every day for a month and you will start to notice a renewed connection to the world around you. You will likely find a lost connection to yourself as well. If emotions come through then feel them. It is when we shut down our emotions that we struggle.
Do yourself a favour and read or listen to The Body Keeps The Score - Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk. There are a lot of hurt people, hurting other people in this world. Compassion for ourselves and others is what is needed for worldwide transformation. Unconditional love for ourselves and others sets the scene for a world of equality and respect for all.
Once you feel the freedom of release you'll never go back. Authentic connections are like no other, but again, to have authentic connections you must be authentic yourself. Your emotions are like a barometer for happiness. They are there to guide you. Ignoring them or pushing them down leaves you rudderless. All feelings are allowable. We are taught to contain our emotions and often we close off to them. Anxiety and depression set in when we close our hearts through trauma. Physical ailments also manifest. During your daily ten minutes of connection to the earth let the emotions that come wash through you, don't stop them. Imagine them running from your brain down through your heart and out of your feet into the earth. Mother earth will hold you.
Connect to the earth. Connect to your true self. Connect with others.
