Interdependence: February 2024
Synchronicity is a mysterious force that seems to come in to remind us of the invisible threads that connect disparate spaces, places, people and ideas. Call the threads synchronicity, call them interdependence. Whatever the force, I recognized it recently between a podcast about grief, an astrology forecast for 2024, and an article about an atheist inmate and his atheist chaplain. The invisible thread: how we heal in community as witnesses to each other’s suffering and joy. The energy between us has the power to heal. Lately, I’ve been feeling this power in the space that Anderson Cooper created with his podcast about grief called “All There Is.” He poignantly reflects on the grief of losing all of his family members, and he interviews people who’ve lost their loved ones, too. He participates, the guest participates, the listener participates. We’re all in it together and we all cry. Or at least I do. I cry during every episode. The listening and the crying have had a cathartic effect on me as I grieve the untimely death of my older brother this year. In the case of the atheists, the inmate faces his scheduled execution with his friend, the chaplain, by his side. The inmate may not believe in God but he believes in his friend as a witness to his life and death. In the astrology forecast for 2024, when the hosts described the energy between us, I felt like she could have just as well been talking about the atheists who loved each other. She said something like, “It’s only through activated love in community that we can tolerate the worst things that happen to us. But also … you and I can celebrate so strongly together.”
I’m here for you,
Lisa
P.S. Here are some prompts borrowed from Flourish’s homegrown game, in the ring, to help you dig deeper on interdependence.
What is something you have difficulty being dependent on? Why?
What is one thing about yourself that, if you took it away, you would no longer be you?
What are 3 places you couldn't live without? Explain.