Connecting

We need more of this

One of the more delightful interactions my wife Sandy and I had recently is connecting with someone who does not see the world as we do, who most likely does not vote the same way, who certainly holds religious beliefs we disagree with, who doesn’t have the same interest in most things we do, and …. well, suffice it to say there’s a lot with the power to separate us.

If we let it.

Yet also, there’s something alive between us, a will to have a relationship despite the differences. Despite the things that have the power to pull us apart, we enjoy each other, we’re kind to each other, and we care. It’s almost as if we want to keep making a story together. Whatever … the will to relationship persists between us.

Photo by Buddha Elemental 3D on Unsplash

I could dwell here on how rare this is in life, about how I’ve made relationship difficult at times, and the whys and wherefores of relationships breaking down. I could think, too, of all the ways I’ve fostered relationship. We’re all participants in this thing we call “life.” We’re all endowed with the power to create and destroy. Individually and collectively, we set up the conditions and boundaries that separate us. But we also know how to heal. And unite. It’s just a little imagination away.

Connectedness is often only a kindness, a simple gesture, a mere phone call, email, text, or Zoom away.

We’ve made it pretty easy to reach out, haven’t we?

We must, therefore, want relatedness.

So let us find within us the will for more of that now and in 2026.