This exercise is designed to help us remember that we are connected to everyone and everything. When we do that, it becomes easier to relate to, respect, and trust others. Recognizing our shared human experience with others leads us to deeper places of cooperation, collaboration, and connection. It also helps us break through the isolation and loneliness that are rampant in today’s fast-paced society.
This practice can start very simply and go as deeply as you want it to go. Practice this regularly and see what new interconnections you can find. As science demonstrates, we share infinite connections, so you will never run out of new paths to explore.
Time Commitment: 3-5 minutes
STEP ONE
Pick an ordinary object to consider. One of the easiest to use is the food on your plate at a meal, but this practice can start anywhere. Wherever it starts, it inevitably ends with the same intricate, beautiful weaving of interconnectedness that is our existence.
STEP TWO
Begin to think about all the people who were directly involved in getting the food on your plate to you. Think about the people who planted, tended, and harvested the ingredients that went into what you are eating. Think about the people who processed and packaged the food. Consider those who transported the food and got it ready for you, say at the grocery store or in a restaurant kitchen.
STEP THREE
Now think about everything that went into what you considered in Step Two. Consider all the materials that were required to grow the food and get it to you. There is all the packaging that was used, all the equipment used, with each of its component parts. Someone had to build the trucks and tractors and conveyor belts that were between you and the origin of each ingredient, and someone had to work to source the raw materials that went into making all that equipment. Think of all the energy sources that powered the equipment that was used. Think about the clothes that were worn by all the people in the chain up until now and all those who made those clothes and provided the raw materials for the clothes.
STEP FOUR
Now, think of the rain that fell to water the crops that went into what you find on your plate. That water has likely been on this earth for millions of years, and has gone through countless cycles of evaporation, precipitation, consumption, and return. The water that nourished the crops has touched thousands of other living things on this earth, and the water molecules in the food you are eating have been on an amazing, endless journey across time and the geography of the earth. Our interconnectedness is with everyone and everything.
Closing
Reflect on what you’ve discovered. Recognize that your actions also ripple out into the world and touch everyone just as everyone has touched you.
Photo Credit: Dark Matter visualization by SDSC and NPACI Visualization Services.