Loss is the universal connector

This post really has nothing to do with that, but I like it. I just heard it and it's stuck in my head.

While in Michigan this past week, I saw something that reassured me both of my own insignificance as one human among billions, and of my significance as a creature of this earth.

There was a little lake outside our hotel. It was beautiful, with swans and geese and small birds flying around it. And when it rained one morning, it was hazy and grey and reminded me of a lake in England. Even when it was grey it was happy.

So I was too hot waiting in the hotel room and told the gang I would meet up with them outside, needing to get some breeze going. I sat down by the lake and watched the random life forms moving around in and above it. This tiny bird, so small and light, swooped in and, from my point of view, barely touched the water with its beak. The immediate ripple, of course, started spreading out from the contact. Then the ripples grew bigger. And bigger. And wider. And within a time of less than a minute, the entire lake was moving in a ripple fashion because of this one little bird. This little, tiny bird with a little, tiny beak. And one quick motion, barely touching the surface of the water, created a ripple that was felt on every inch of the surface of the lake. The size of the bird in contrast to the size of the lake was astonishing, yet this little creature created such a commotion that the entire lake was affected.

No matter how small or insignificant we feel or actually are, there are tiny movements we can make, little actions we can take, that create a ripple felt universally. A touch of love. A touch of betrayal. A touch of kindness. A touch of evil. All of these little touches create the world in which we function, in which we share with the energies of all. There is no action too small that can't be felt on the far ends of the earth. And with that kind of power, imagine the intense feeling of those who are so close to the ripple's center. Just like the tiny bird, whose first touch of the lake created intense, powerful ripples that eventually became soft waves, those that we touch literally in our daily interactions are at the epicenter of those intense, powerful ripples. And what we do to others, how we interact, react and treat them creates a soft wave that travels beyond our minor, insignificant little lives.

This is a universal message. It's used in Christianity (love thy neighbor), in Wicca (what you do comes back to you threefold) and many other religions. It is used in team building exercises for large corporations. It is used to teach a three year old that hitting their friend isn't the way to interact with others.

Then when did we start to lose the power of that message? When did we, as humas, lose that intense knowledge that how we act and react creates the world around us? When did we lose that need to see just how powerful we are as creatures and accept the responsibility that goes along with that power? When did we become blind to all that happens around us?

When did we lose our power? Or rather, the knowledge of our power? When did we start to believe it was okay to lie to those we consider friends? When did we start to think it was okay to hit someone because they are smaller, weaker or different? When did we realize the power of money to control others and use it to buy or withold love? When did it become okay to break trust, betray and deceive?

The moment we lost our ability to see the tremendous, incredible power we hold within each of us. The moment we looked at ourselves in the mirror after doing something that could potentially destroy someone else and tell ourselves it's okay, we did it because we could or we wanted to or we had to. That is the moment when it became okay to abuse our power instead of use our power.

Our power and our humanity are so intricately linked. They are one in the same. Personal power becomes absolutism when humanity is taken out of the equation. And there are so few who understand or even care. But at one time we all knew. On some level, we all knew. The Great Disconnect happens somewhere along our "growth" as people.

I would like to think I kept that knowledge somewhere in my being on my journey to where I am now. Looking back, I know and can state the times where I lost it. When my actions created hurt and pain in those I loved but I didn't see or care because I did what I wanted to do at the time. It's my life and I'll live with the consequences, right? No. That's never the way it goes. There is always someone crying because of what we do. Always someone laughing because of what we do. Someone is affected in every action we take. Right now, I'm typing instead of petting Kitten. She is affected. Although she is asleep and wouldn't take too kindly of my waking her up, she is still affected.

The spider I saved in the bathroom today was affected by my choice to shoo him out of the pathway of my foot instead of smashing him. We are all connected.

All of this because I saw a tiny, insignificant little bird touch water and create a ripple that overtook the lake.