Making a Connection

I was thinking and writing about connection at the weekend.  What does it mean?  How do we build it? Is it something you can develop or it something that is there inherently?  I considered my connection with some people, where it just clicks and you feel like you’ve known them forever, and also my connection to the bigger world, mindfulness.  I spent an hour walking silently, just taking in my surroundings, the sights and sounds of Autumn as the season develops and the trees start to turn the beautiful shades of red, orange, gold and brown.  My favourite colours, in fact.  Those I am drawn to, those I maybe have a connection with already.  I do love this time of year!  The trees are dropping their leaves, that which no longer serves them, and it always has me looking at a bit of a reset, a chance to stop and reassess, realign, and focus.

Fruits are also ripening and falling.  I passed several boxes of apples left by strangers’ gates inviting people to help themselves, to share in this delightful bounty.  Is there a deeper connection than sharing food?  I didn’t take an apple this time but I do love the idea of people eating together (I wasn’t expecting someone to come out of their house and join me in apple-eating!) but this simple act is a wonderful gesture of community, of one-ness, of us all being in this together, which has been a real theme throughout the year.

I passed a river on my walk too.  When people ask “mountain or ocean,” I’ve been able to argue the case for both and there is something about water that both soothes and inspires me.  Despite never having lived by the sea, I feel very much at home listening to the crash of waves breaking on the shore, and the busy water of this river, dancing on its way, felt just as compelling.  Perhaps it’s the movement, the flow, the ever changing being that fascinates me about water. Whatever it is, I feel some sort of connection.

It’s been a tough year for so many people.  I thought I’d got off lightly but just a few little niggles over the last couple of weeks have me wondering whether in fact it’s taken a bigger toll on my well-being than I’d imagined originally.  Either way, I’ve loved the simplicity of this year.  Of being able to take time out and to just be.  No hectic schedule, no rushing around, no feeling obliged to be my best Super Woman tribute act or to keep up with the Joneses.  I’ve just been me, and it turns out, I’m alright.  I intend to carry on with this uncomplicated, appreciative way of being, far more in tune with myself and my spiritual being, and noticing things around me.  There are few greater feelings in life than the warmth of the sun on your face.