Bernd’s weekly blog No.4 : The Importance of Connection

Hi everybody!

As I write this, the latest entry into the musings of this voyager into the unknown, it is merely a few days before the holiday season well and truly descends upon us in its flurry of celebration, excesses, consumerism, family adventures, true reverence in some cases, and all the rest.

I have always found this time to be especially celebratory as my own birthday is smack bang in the middle between Christmas and NYE, which is actually quite lovely, but also rather overwhelming at times. Honestly I personally rarely celebrate Christmas so much myself, unless I am in the company of family (we are all scattered over the world like so many acorns thrown from the embrace of the world’s highest clifftop oak tree), and perhaps this is a natural result of my own inward searching tendencies among a season of all things over the top.

However, something I do value deeply is connection. Connection with other beings, connection with myself, connection with the higher consciousness of the universe, divine, or unconditioned (pick the word that most resonates with you!). And this is something this season really does offer up in huge servings, should we wish to engage in the opportunity!

Let’s look a little at each of these three ways we can connect. They are largely arbitrary categories perhaps, but they do show one interesting way to look at all of this. 

First, connecting to other beings. Something that frequently strikes me is how rare true connection seems to be in the world at this time. Has it always been like this? I don’t know, but honestly doubt it. With the rise of screens and the web, it is becoming ever easier to hide behind various devices, being a little internet warrior instead of truly connecting with another being, and gauging the impact we are having on them, and they are having on us. 

When we truly connect to another person, really take them in, while allowing them into our own heart space, the result is always fresh and alive, and often deeply beautiful and nourishing. If there are challenges between the two people, they are often more easily resolved. One thing this season offers us is the chance to take time away from our usual concerns and just really be with those apparently closest to us for a time. Whether it be a lover, a child, a parent, a friend, or anybody else who may fit in here, I invite all of us (I’m including myself here!) to actually connect to those in our sphere of possibilities at present. This needs of course to be expanded when possible beyond the human realm. Animals, plants, the planet herself all deserve and need connection. Why should we stay on a little self made throne, above the rest of the glorious life on this Earth?

Then there’s the tricky little connection that is also easily lacking, connection to yourself. It is likely in this time that you have a little more time in your hands. Perhaps not, in which case find a different occasion for this! However those who have even a day or two longer than usual, and more space in the day, especially coming toward the end of the year, can really gain a lot from spending time in connection to oneself. Not just going through doing life, but really being YOU. And discovering what that means. Are you really living the life that your heart is asking for? Are you really feeling connected to your body, your sense of having a place in the world? While in one sense the ending of one year isn’t of particular significance, being simply a created timeframe that ends one numbered year, the symbolism is helpful, and does give us a chance to reflect a little more before we go off into 2024.

And finally, connection to the greater reality. This is a tricky topic, especially given the vast variety of views out there on what reality is. God? Divine? Random collection of atoms? Conscious universe? 

Whatever your current belief system has room for, we need to find our place in the bigger picture, and that involves (I would say in almost all cases I have ever seen) a need to open your mind somewhat in terms of possibilities. To assume we know how the universe works is a rather small view, one not even shared by the true scientists out there, continuously trying to find out how things really work! Start opening to the possibility of a far bigger reality than you could ever have dreamed of, and allow this possibility to infuse you.

If you are able to make room for this in your life, find a way to open up to the divine. If you don’t have room for that, look for and open to the unconditioned reality underneath all the changes. If your view is so staunchly atheist that this also doesn’t work, look to the cosmos of stars and vast space and stellar events and reflect on your place within this tapestry of life.

Then find a way to connect to it. 

I wish you all a beautiful ending to the year, and a glorious beginning to the new one. May it bring more peace and health and true connection to all of us!

With love,

Bernd.