Diane Dreher

I believe that we live on two levels—as our separate self and as connected in an expansive sense of oneness.

Our separate self give each of us our name, personal history, individual identity, and accomplishments. But the separate self can also bring us insecurity, fear of inadequacy, anxiety, and worries about ourself, our appearance, our goals and achievements.

Beneath the layer of our separate self is our underlying unity, our oneness with all of life. We can sense this oneness in moments of awe and inspiration, in the beauty of nature, the power of love, in meditation,  community, and the arts, in times we are so connected to the present moment that we transcend our separation, drawn into a deep state of oneness.

Our former surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy warned that we have an epidemic of loneliness and isolation which compromises our emotional and physical health (2023). For feelings of isolation can produce chronic stress, anxiety, and fear. Advertisers exploit the insecurity of our separate self so they can sell us their products as solutions. And authoritarian leaders seek to divide us from each other and control us with fear.

But we can transcend insecurity and isolation of our separate self by connecting with our essential oneness. We can find transcendence through the power of awe, the sense of inspiration and wonder when we connect with something larger than ourselves. Where do you find this connection?

I invite you to join me now to focus on what connects you.

Recall a time when you felt an expansive sense of connection and oneness with something beyond your separate self—a sense of joy and inspiration.

• Was it experiencing the beauty of nature? Looking up at a tall tree or a radiant sunset?
• Sharing time with a loved one?
• Experiencing a work of art—music, drama, poetry, or the visual arts? Participating in the process of creativity as you became one with the present moment? Or was it something else?

Breathe into that experience now.

Feel the embrace of that expansive, inspiring, and energizing experience of oneness.

In the days ahead, make it a point to connect with the sense of oneness. Take time to experience what inspires you. Make this a regular part of your life, a new habit to bring greater light to your life for your own good and the good of us all.

For experiencing this deeper sense of connection will empower you to take positive action to bring more connection, harmony, and peace to our world.

I wish you joy on the path.

Reference

Murthy, V. H. (2023). Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General's advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf

Lately, many of us have been living in fear. Current political news can make us feel afraid that we are not safe. Some of my friends say they're afraid to speak up, to disagree, to act on their beliefs for fear of what could happen to them. But while there are disruptive forces out there, surrendering to fear is not the answer.

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in his First Inaugural Address during the dark days of the Depression: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance" (1933).

In today's challenging times, it is up to each of us to find ways to transform the reductive reaction of fear into the possibility for positive action. For we cannot act wisely when reacting from fear, which plunges us into fight, flight, or freeze—three reactions that reduce our actions to defensiveness, retreat, or passivity.

How do we transform the energy of fear? The Bible tells us that "perfect love casts out fear" (1 John, 4:18). Recent research in positive psychology has found how we can transcend fear with the power of awe, the sense of inspiration and wonder when we connect with something larger than ourselves (Keltner, 2024).

I invite you to join me now in a brief reflection to experience the power of awe.

• Take a deep mindful breath and slowly release it. Then recall a time when you felt a sense of awe, an expansive connection and oneness with something beyond your ego—a sense of joy and inspiration.
• Was it experiencing the beauty of nature—perhaps walking in the woods, seeing a radiant sunset, or gazing at the stars overhead?
• Was it appreciating a work of art—music, drama, poetry, or the visual arts?
• Was it sharing time with a loved one?
• Feeling flow, as you participated in the process of creativity?
• Or something else?

Breathe into that experience now, feeling it in the present moment, expansive, inspiring, and energizing.

In the days ahead, make it a point to restore your inner balance by connecting with awe on a regular basis. Reach out to connect with whatever brings you that joyous, expansive feeling of awe.

Experiencing awe will dispel the fear reaction, bring more light to your life, and enable you to take positive action to bring more light to the world.

I wish you joy on the path.

References

Keltner, D. (2024). Awe: The new science of everyday wonder and how it can transform your life. New York, NY: Penguin Random House.

Roosevelt, F. D. (1933, March 4). First Inaugural Address. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/froos1.asp