Years of living and contemplating certain areas of life, allows through time, an evolution of consciousness, a progression of thought and an ever-changing perception and understanding of the world and each other.
Swirling around me are thoughts and perceptions about the homelessness, aging and disorientation, and the reality of human connections.
In every human life, there needs to be a connection to someone or someplace in order for the inner circuitry to fire physically and move through the pathways of neurons and cellular life, which in turn gives rise to interest and participation in life. It is a physical reality.
Everyone has a different connection point that fires the circuits. Whatever connection there is, it must be secure and steady. For many, it is God or particular deities or religious figures that watch over them and are always there. For others it is the connection to mothers and fathers and children and family. Some are connected to nature and the the flow of life and the living. Some to friends. But no matter what it is connected to, there has to be something living, someone, somewhere to connect to. Without a direct connection, the heart becomes weakened, the sense of self or soul starts to wander, the environments of place and space and home are left abandoned and empty, and the capacity to imagine and dream and live begins to wane. The brain neurons begin to lose their firing capacities and orientation. The ability to think clearly and feel the inspiration to move forward lags or turns to altered states of consciousness for the rise. And the risks and capacities it takes to jump into life begin to falter. A sense of separateness, hopelessness, loneliness, and isolation begin building walls of exclusion, not inclusion. It is the place that disorientation, disconnection and homelessness begins.
In this world where there is much privilege, the basic human connection can feel lost. It is not based on money or the right way to do something. It is not based on helping “the less fortunate.” It is based on touching into what is living and what is real. True human, heart to heart, soul to soul, connection sparks from genuine interest in each other. Touching the living Earth, entering into nature and the nature of things reconnects the firing sparks of imagination.
This thesis is not to say that we all need to be connected to each other. It is clear that we are part of a large body of life that is living. A living life and reality that needs to be taken care of together. However, in that, we are all individual human beings, with hearts and souls and human stories. That’s where it begins. In each human soul and human story, however diverse and however different it may be.
The loss of face, the loss of place, the loss of community lies in the fact that there appears to be two extremes. One is the religious or spiritual zeal that has an overarching set of beliefs or paths that lead to a kind of knowledgeable perfection and sense of oneness which loses the capacity to look at each other, face to face, heart to heart, circumstance to circumstance. The other is the extreme sense of individualism which strives for personal perfection and high-reaching goals.
When an elderly person begins to get disoriented, there are many factors. They lose close friends and loved ones, they move from a place well known, they have no purpose or place they are needed any longer. When the connection to others, to place and space and to meaningful purpose begins to wane, the heart’s imagination and spark is compromised, the ability to stay connected in conversation and inspiration is challenged, and jumping into life can feel like one is jumping off a boat in the middle of the sea.
In the world of homelessness, it is far more complex with many more long-term and complicated issues, yet, I feel the most important element is where is the circuitry connected, where is the spark for loving life, where is the space to begin to find the place to create a sense of home.
For many, believing in God and a larger power who is always there and taking care of things, gives that sense of circuitry. However, that is not the only way. That is not the given assumption of starting point, that there is someone watching over and taking care of us.
I would like to start at the point of imagining that it is our individual responsibilities, this life, this place and space we call home. And that there are physical realities on how we can reconnect the circuitry within those who have lost it, misplaced it or have been displaced from it. It happens to all of us. No one is exempt from the sudden changes in life when the plug gets pulled. But what is important and essential is how we see things after, when all the pieces of life have been strewn in different directions and one realizes that it all begins in oneself and the ability to create and recreate a life.
In the quiet hours of the morning, what allows anyone to rise is genuine interest. I propose that that is the starting pointing. For within interest, a connection can be made to others, to things, to situations, to places, and to life. Within this spark called interest, there is a spark, a flame that needs tending to. Within every human soul, there lingers something living that wishes to grow and bud and blossom and become. How does one then create environments where this living spark of interest, self awareness, and heartfelt connection to others be cultivated?
It begins in every human soul. It is a place where the warmth of life stirs and the light of genuine interest begins to see itself. How each human being responds to this warmth and light is different and unique, yet it lives within the commonness of humanity. It is here that human life on Earth begins. It is here the experience that all of life is living and that each one of us has a role to play, a gift to offer, a place to live and grow begins to dawn. No two human beings are alike. Every cellular, neurological, and physical composition is different. What is in common is this thing called life, this activity called living and this place we call home.
In this place, we all live and have our beings. In this place, we all have the opportunity to unfold and blossom, offering our presence and our authentic uniqueness in relationship to understanding what this life needs to grow within us and others and in the world. What is fundamental is how we do it together.
What is life? That is the question relevant to our time. How do we tend to it, grow it, nurture it, and love from within it and love it’s different forms and separateness as the parts and persons are birthed and come to life?
Within this womb of worlds, where life is held and cared for, something uniquely human happens, love is born enveloping the genuine interests we hold within each one of us, and love is born embracing each other as human babies and children and people. Within this place and space, within this crescent of the living, love and freedom reveals itself as the two parts of the whole.
Every human being has the place of self and freedom to explore and express and offer one’s true gifts of genuine and living interests. It is our birthright and responsibility. Likewise, every human being has another side of self and love that has the innate ability to genuinely and lovingly care for this thing called life and the living as it exists within each one of us.
Our human beingness is composed of two elements: freedom–that part of our being that allows us to live our lives in such a way as to be able to authentically offer our unique gifts to life and each other. And, love–that ability we have to energetically and physically connect to each other out of genuine interest, human care and a common passion for life.
Written by Jill LaBelle Sophie