BLOG 6 INSECT VS. BUG

Recently I have had an exquisite communication challenge come up with a beloved friend. And, it got me to thinkin’, as another cherished amiga would often say before sheer diamonds of wisdom would flow out of her mouth. What I realized within this particular challenge was that we humans often will point to the same thing, but call it differently. A small arthropod, crawling across a picnic table might be called an insect by one person, while another person will insist that it’s a bug. You see, they’re saying the same thing, looking at the same thing, but, as often happens when we need to be right, getting stuck in their own perspective as the ONLY perspective. And then, for emphasis we seek agreement from a bunch of our friends who dutifully agree that, “Yes, that there’s a bug.” While the other brings in a bunch of their well-meaning friends who climb aboard the agreement wagon by affirming, “Nosirree, that’s an insect.”

Wars between nations and between loved ones are fought from essentially the same confused interaction.

On the whole (underneath all the acts of bravado, control avoidance, hyper-sensitivity and other delusional human expressions) every single human being wants the same thing: a feeling of being loved, freedom to love in our own unique way, feeling safe in our environment, nourished in body, mind and soul, and a having a deep trust that our existence makes a difference in the world; that we matter and are valued.

Those last two desires can get a bit tricky when there is an underlying core belief that we don’t matter. A carnival of venerating fans could camp on your doorstep waving bright red, heart banners, disclosing their eternal adoration for you, but if there’s even a sliver of a belief that you don’t matter, you’ll find their actions suspicious. At best.

What would happen if you simply allowed yourself to connect to the deepest heart in another, trusting that they, like you, want the same thing? And then, act from that truth. Because it is.

You have nothing to lose.