Dancing Animals

connecting authentically

[Excerpted from this week’s WOW News. See the whole newsletter HERE.]

Looks like summer is really here, even a week or so before it offically arrives, on the Summer Solstice this Sunday, June 21 (in the northern hemisphere anyway). I’ve been enjoying my daily walks along the Delaware canal, seeing how fast the goslings have grown since spring, deepening my friendship with the blue herons, and greeting the other humans as authentically as I can.

On my way to the canal this morning, I saw a man approaching me from the other direction, carrying a cup of coffee he had obviously gotten on Main St. We smiled and waved as we passed, and then he stopped. So I paused too, and he asked me, “How are you today?” He was really asking, this was not a stock greeting. It felt so good to be seen and acknowledged, and I could easily answer, “I am doing well this morning. How are you?” We shared our enjoyment of the lovely cool air after last night’s thunderstorm, and I said I felt happy to have woken up again to another day. “Yes,” my neighnor replied, “that’s it! Such a blessing.” Then he game me a fist bump, we wished each other well and went our separate ways.

This all took less than a minute, but it has set the tone for my day. That simple act of stopping and choosing to connect to another person is hugely powerful. Someone you don’t know, without needing anything from you, just says “I see you. You exist. We are here together.” It’s a small holy moment that feels affirming, whether you’re giving or receiving.

I can’t think of anything more useful or necessary right now. Things have gotten so bad on all levels of society, and we are so afraid of each other. Perhaps with good reason, perhaps not. One thing I know is that if we are going to move in the direction of peace and true democracy for all, it is going to take everybody. One single person is not going to save us; our collective efforts rooted in wisdom and compassion will turn the tide.

If we start choosing to connect with one another -- even if it’s just a sincere nod, or looking the cashier in the eye, or smiling at the parents strolling with their baby -- I think we start to trust a bit more. Present moment attention grows exponentially. Now that I’ve received it from someone, I am more able to give it to somebody else.

I love this story from Kurt Vonnegut, who tells his wife he’s going out to buy an envelope:

Oh, she says well, you’re not a poor man. You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people. And see some great looking babes. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And, and ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don’t know. The moral of the story is, we’re here on Earth to fart around. And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And what the computer people don’t realize, or they don’t care, is we’re dancing animals.

So, my fellow dancing animals, look for chances to fart around and connect with other humans and maybe toss a silent love bomb their way. It feels good.