The Intimate Reality of Interconnectedness

We know interdependence as a fact of lifeThat we need the trees to breatheThe bees need flowers, and the flowers need beesAnd none of us could eat without pollinatorsIt’s a complex web And we know itAnd we marvel at itBut does it sink in?Every breath, we take in 25 sextillion molecules25,000,000,000,000,000,000,000That’s more molecules than there are grains of sand on the beaches of the worldEvery breathThose moleculesHave come from the exhalations of every other being on the planetTrees, cougars, humans, caterpillars(As well as power plants, cars and factories)That’s how connected we areBut somehow we often overlook itHow the world would change if we considered this practically…I believe the body reads the breathThe way the brain reads the newspaperAnd even though our mind doesn’t decipher the languageI believe our bodies are aware of the world and each otherFar more intimately than the mindWe knowWe just don’t knowWe are intimately connectedAnd everything we doMatters.Last week, I had some profound, unsolicited, enormous gestures of helpThank you.It’s humbling.And incredibly meaningful.I’m trying to receive them just with appreciationNot the shame and rush to reciprocate that’s also thereBut, of course, I need to feel all of it, let it be what it isI’ve cried a lotAnd in the complexity of those tearsI’ve met what feels like all the emotionsLike little prisms from the tears as my attention sees different anglesIt also reframes all of the things I’ve thought about myselfBecause I do have this feeling I should be independentEven though I know I’m notNor do I want to beI want to be connectedAnd I am, as you’re proving right now. Thank you.Life is complicated, and full of contradictory poles that we dance betweenI believe in the harmony of nature, even though nature can be cruelI believe deeply in the radical intimacy of all things, even when I feel estrangedI believe that our smallest gestures can have the greatest impactAnd that sometimes our grandest gestures can have unintended consequences, tooThe deep generosity I received didn’t solve my situationBut they softened it, softened meMade me feel seen, cared for, believed inThose gestures matterLike the bee’s visiting a flower mattersSometimes we’re the beeSometimes we’re the flowerAlways, we are connected.Thank you. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fallingtenderly.substack.com