Making the connection to life
By joining the slow movement we have the opportunity to connect to life. What does connecting to life mean? To connect to life is to connect to every aspect of our lives. Most important of all is to connect to ourselves, and to our own movement within life. That is, to connect to our body and our mind, to connect to
Interconnectednessspirituality, to our stage in life, to connect to the natural rhythms that guide us, and to connect to death and dying – a natural part of life.
So many of us do not connect to life. We search for something not knowing what it is. We search for happiness and fulfillment. But we search in the outer world not realizing that we find these things by looking within.
When we look within we see that we are complete and our life is complete. We no longer have to strive to climb the employment ladder or to improve our social status. We see that we are part of an infinitely complex whole – the interdependence of all things.
The most difficult part of connecting to life is to slow our mind enough to even see what we need to do. Many people in the west are now recognizing they need to make connection and are searching for how to do this. These people are aware that it has to do with slowing down and moving back to basics – away from the hectic stress-filled life they are leading.
More and more people are downshifting or seeking a seachange. In different countries different physical environments are seen to epitomize a slow, fulfilling life. For example, in some countries it is the peaceful rural village or farm-life, whereas in others it is the sleepy seaside village. Perhaps in some countries it is living in the mountains.
Real connectionEach culture identifies with a certain topographic or geographic landscape as being the ‘best’ one. Australians have always been drawn to the surf. It is a nation of surfers or fisherfolks.
Some people choose not to move where they live in order to join the slow movement, but to stay and dramatically slow down and change their lives in order to connect to life. We can downshift or seachange no matter what our life circumstance or position.
Death and dying has become a bit of a taboo subject in our culture. We are so divorced from the process that it is all a bit scary – something we don’t want to discuss, especially when it is our death and dying that is the subject.
Why has this unnatural fear arisen? Mostly this fear exists because death is unknown. Because it is unknown people have developed one of three basic attitudes: one is to fear death to such as extent that we become a slave to our emotions. Some people ignore the possibility of death by becoming so engrossed in living that they do not have time to think about it. And lastly, some people accept the inevitability of death and make emotional and spiritual preparations for it.
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