One Air, One Breath, One Family: An Unprecedented Shared Experience ll By Dorothy Wallis
What we are experiencing on the planet is unprecedented. Never before have we had the magnitude of global interconnection and communication during a crisis that affects every human being, as we are experiencing in this moment.
Much of humanity is focused on the media, the daily changes in life and the effect it is having on distant parts of the globe as the Covid-19 virus circulates around the world.
Where is your focus and attention going?
You don’t need to listen to the news to know something remarkably uncommon is occurring. You can see it on the empty streets, with the closing of schools, people being sent home to work, and empty shelves at the grocery stores. You can see it in your personal life and how it has affected your livelihood. Now, people are self-isolating or sheltering in place either by choice or because they have to.
As you observe this phenomenon what are you experiencing inside?
Does fear arise? Does confusion, panic or astonishment arise? Are you at peace? Do you enjoy the “alone” time? Perhaps you are at home with family members that before were all out in the world. Now you find yourself in constant contact with them. Are you kind? Are you enjoying one another? What is your response?
It has been just a week, although it seems like a month, since this became a serious enough issue that I thought to take action to be prepared. Being a pragmatic Virgo, I made a list of items I would need to stay at home for a month or so and set out to purchase them. Lucky to find a parking space at Costco, I started toward the door when a man ran up behind me, “Ma’am take my cart. There are none in the store.” A bit bewildered, I thanked him for his thoughtfulness. Before entering, a woman holding a bottle of hand sanitizer and wipes swabbed my cart handle. Again, I smiled and thanked her. Inside I beheld a sea of people and baskets. It might have been daunting yet as I navigated through the crowd, I felt a sense of joy. People were not pushing and shoving, they were actually slowing down and allowing others to get where they needed to go. There was an air of kindness…a sense that all of us were in this together. Checkout lines were long going all of the way to the back of the store. I rounded an aisle near the front to pick up some protein powder, the last item I needed, and saw a short line. In disbelief, I asked the man standing at the end, “Are you at the end of the line?” “Yes, he replied.” I had the most delightful time as we conversed noticing our similar feelings and views on keeping a positive loving attitude and approaching the situation from within our heart. Normally, I am not inclined to be so open with a “stranger” but it felt good to share and reflect on our abundance and goodwill.
If you haven’t noticed, we are witnessing an extraordinary moment.
A moment when we have an opportunity to awaken to the truth that we are truly One. One human family, breathing one breath, globally interconnected and interdependent. Is there any doubt now that what happens in China or Italy or the U.S. or Canada or Australia, or Syria, or any country affects every single one of us? We are joined physically, mentally, emotionally, economically and spiritually.
You can look at the virus as a demon or as transformer. It is showing us that we All Breathe the Same Air. We are One Breath. We are not Separate. We are one global family. With that understanding the question becomes, how do we respond as One Being? How do we lift our consciousness to a higher level of Care for One another?
There is so much I have thought about over the past days with so much to say…and so little to say. We are in Unknown Uncharted waters. Isn’t that the greatest fear? We cannot know for certain what lies ahead. The world has turned upside down and in the outer world there seems to be no stability. Our healthcare, economic, social systems, and leaders are showing their vulnerabilities. No one is immune. This tiny creature is raising All of our personal and systemic vulnerabilities to the surface.
As strange as it sounds, that is the Gift.
We are getting a clear view of our response or reaction to this crisis. Distractions are few. We are at a standstill. When have you ever seen the world Stop Doing? We have been running around willy-nilly doing, doing, doing with endless thoughtless busyness. We have been so preoccupied with doing life that we have not stopped to see where we are going. What have we created? How are we impacting each other? How are we impacting all of life?
In a moment of fantasy, I had a Sci-Fi vision of Mother Earth creating this microbe to get rid of humans. We would not be missed. In actuality, the earth is taking a deep breath right now. Water in the canals of Venice is clearing and fish and dolphins are populating the waters. Pollution in cities is abating as cars, trucks, businesses and factories are shut down. Animals and other creatures are happily carrying on. We humans are the ones in crisis.
We are in a pivotal moment in consciousness. We have a great opportunity to pause and observe without judgment but with great discernment our habitual conditioned response to life. We invest lots of our energy in attempting to control just about everything. It is a basic reaction to ensure survival and it can also be our greatest downfall. There are a zillion different views on what and how to control the outer world and other people in order to be secure.
How secure do you feel right now?
Can you awaken from the trance? You have never been able to control the outer world. External stability is fleeting. The only place where true stability resides is inside of you. A great teaching is offered in turning inward. Through this extraordinary circumstance you have a chance to glimpse the eternal part of you that is constant. Here resides a core of centeredness and stability that is awareness. You have the power of choice in how you respond to whatever you experience.
As you approach life from this pillar of timeless balance, you are coherent with the ebb and flow of life. You are able to observe and choose responses that enhance life. Innovative and creative solutions abound in times like these. Already, we are seeing people creating new and exciting ways to deal with work. Others are using their skills to find solutions to save people’s lives. What we know for sure is that we are all in this together. We are having a rare Shared Experience. I trust we will adapt. Humans are resourceful and resilient. We are in the midst of an upgrade in consciousness if we choose it.
As you move inward into your heart and know without a doubt that we are One, you will respond with care for all humans, for all creatures, and for our dear planet.
This is our challenge and how we respond will be written in our memories for all time.
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Dorothy Wallis is a former intern at People House in private practice with an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy. She is a Psychotherapist, Certified Relational Life Therapist, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, and an International Spiritual Teacher at the forefront of the consciousness movement for over thirty years grounded in practices of meditation, family systems, relationships, and emotional growth. Her work reflects efficacious modalities of alternative approaches to healing for individuals and couples based upon the latest research in science, human energy fields, psychology, and spirituality.
As a leader in the field of emotional consciousness and the connection to mind, body and spirit, her compassionate approach safely teaches you how to connect to your body, intuition and knowing to clear emotional wounds and trauma at the core. The powerful Heartfulness protocol empowers your ability to join with your body’s innate capacity to heal through holistic Somatic, Sensory and Emotional awareness.
