They’re calling it an epidemic of loneliness. But nobody is alone. We are all connected. We just don’t recognize it.
The current narrative is that we’ve never been more divided. But it’s not true. (Google US Civil War for an example.) It’s a story. But when we buy into it, we make it true.
We’ve been convinced to focus on our differences. It’s a classic power play. Divide and conquer. Keep everyone distracted and divided so they won’t have time to realize they’re being manipulated, used, and abused.
Humans have become resources for a system that is beyond our ability to grasp. We are cogs in the wheels of progress, manipulated by media, government, and corporations. If we had enough time to realize that, we might push back. It’s better for the system if we push against each other instead.
But the division is just a narrative. It’s not real. Connection is everywhere if we just slow down for moment and take time to see it.
In this very moment, you and I are connected through the act of reading and writing.
A few hours ago, I was sitting at my Apple Macbook Pro typing away. It was manufactured in a factory in China. Many people helped make this device. It contains countless components made of plastic, silicon, and aluminum. Each of those components came from another factory with more workers. Many of the raw materials were mined from the earth. Someone had to run the machinery to dig them from the dirt. Others wrote code to make it all work, and they did it on more computers from more factories. I am connected to all of those people. And by reading this, so are you.
Someone had to make the box it came in, constructed of cardboard, which was made from trees from a forest, where they were planted by someone. More people worked to bring all the components to the factory, and then onto the plane or ship that brought it from China to a port in America, onto a truck to deliver it to an Apple store in a mall somewhere. We are connected to all of them.
My computer was running on electricity. This email went to you through a vast telecommunications network from England, where I attended the Immersive Experience Network Summit this week, (sign up for my Inside VR newsletter for that story) to more than 80 countries where my readers live. I can’t even begin to imagine how many people it took to build and maintain those systems. But we are all connected.
I was drinking coffee as I wrote this. The beans were grown in Colombia. They were roasted in Antwerp. I ground them myself here in London, using a grinder I bought in Japan. All of these things required people to doing things.
Todos estamos conectados
We zijn allemaal verbonden
みんなつながっている
I can go on and on. Yet we feel alone.
One practice I’ve developed is to occasionally take a moment to recognize people I have never met. For example, when I am grinding my coffee beans, I try to be grateful for the farmers and roasters. It’s a small moment that reminds me that we are connected to everyone and everything. We just can’t see it.
It can help me feel connected and grateful for other humans as I wander the planet, often feeling disconnected from my friends and family.
Do I care about the political leanings of the farmer in Colombia who grew my coffee beans? Of course not. And I don’t care about yours. Because our beliefs do not define who we are. They’re just more stories.
We take these stories so seriously, we weave them into identities.
“I’m a democrat or a republican.”
“A liberal or a conservative.”
“An American or a Russian.”
“A Christian or an Atheist.”
We hold onto these stories so tightly that they come to define us.
But our stories and identities DO NOT define us. We are not our stories. We are not even our identities. Those are costumes we wear.
Halloween is coming. Many people will don a costume and pretend to be someone else. But I doubt anyone will believe they are the character they are portraying. In life, it’s natural to wear costumes and to play roles. The suffering comes when we start thinking they’re real.
