INTERCONNECTION
Recently a dear friend sent me a framed print of a painting of lilies for my birthday because ‘Susanna’ means “white lily” in Hebrew.
It was a lovely painting, but I never received it.?
Instead, by mistake I got a framed print of M.C. Escher’s Sky and Water in which birds and fish mesh seamlessly from the sky to the watery deep in a perfect melding of negative and positive spaces. Stark and modernistic, it’s a subtle trick for eye and brain while making a bold and intriguing statement about the interconnection of all things.
There was no way I was going to send it back.
?I’ve been thinking a lot about interconnectedness these days.?Whether it’s connecting the smarts of the brain with the wisdom of the heart to make better choices that benefit not just ourselves but all in our midst (see last week's Thoughtful Spark, "Enlightenment"), or whether it’s being on edge daily about our global interconnections that might catapult us into World War III.
?We are all in this together—as individuals, groups, nations, living creatures, flying birds and swimming fish included. There is no separation. We share one globe, one sun, one moon.?No one can live totally independent of others or at least of the impact of others (Sorry, mountain men, you can’t get away! ?Think climate change and endangered species for starters…).??
?Have you ever thought about everyone involved in getting the piece of toast you enjoy in the morning on your plate? Hundreds of folks had their hands in the process, starting with the farmer who planted the seed (which was supplied from someone else), down to those who made the toaster, those who created and run the power plant that gives the toast is tawny color and crunchy texture, to those who built the stores in which the loaf was sold, or built the car that’s fueled by the energy that others have tapped and made available that you drove to the store on the roads that were engineered and made by many... ?
No man is an island, plain and simple.?
?That goes, of course, for women, children, babes, flora, and fauna too. Right down to our molecules, atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons, quarks, leptons, bosons, muons… Interconnected.
?So why do we act like Lone Rangers? We cut other people off when we drive. We throw our trash out or car window.?We backstab, gossip, undermine.?We complain about our work, our bosses, our coworkers.?We naysay. Shun others’ opinions and beliefs. Shut down our brains. Ignore our imaginations. Belittle the wonder of possibility.
?There’re lots of reasons we do this:
·?????The comfort of our comfort zone, even when it’s totally uncomfortable.
·?????Our upbringing.
·?????The stories true or not, entrenched in our amygdala so that without thinking (even though we THINK WE’RE THINKING), we react to our emotions.
?·?????Lack of confidence.
·?????Lack of clarity.
·?????Fear of failure or of judgement.
·?????The path of least resistance…
?The list is long and complicated.
?But the solution is short and simple:?INTERCONNECTION.
Acknowledging the impact on the whole of our every statement, decision, and action beyond the limits of our physical bodies and our mighty egos, would allow us to achieve so much more as individuals, organizations, communities, countries, and nations.
United we stand. Divided we fall.
?It’s not hard. Examples of interconnection are everywhere.
?We just need a reminder to open our eyes to see, our minds to recognize, and our hearts to accept.
Which is why I'm keeping my Escher print.
?Cheery bye,
Susanna
PS. If you or your team needs a reminder to open your eyes to see, your minds to recognize, and your hearts to accept, please let me know. That's what I specialize in.
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