One For All

Dearest Readers,

Have you ever noticed that the word "community" ends in the word "unity"? You probably have because it's rather obvious but I don't think I actually became aware of it myself until last year. I was looking to name an Inspiring Workshop for an NGO and suddenly realized that one was embedded in the other.

Pun intended. The word "unity", in fact, comes from the Latin unus, meaning "one". I have a friend who used to say, "We're all One," all the time. Whenever a coincidence happened or when something arrived full circle and we all went, "Wow," she would pipe in with, "We're all One." Well, we are!

Yesterday I was speaking with someone who said she'd been looking for a community in which to feel "a part of" for years. Last week I heard a woman say she never felt like she fit in anywhere. The experience of feeling "apart from" is more common than we think.

My whole life I felt like an alien. I was sure I'd been dropped on the wrong planet. You guys got it somehow and I didn't. Or, the opposite: I got it and none of you did. I felt isolated, different, separate.

Even though the mind will tell us that the cure for this kind of profound loneliness is isolation, we must not buy in. The cure is Community. The cure is Oneness with our fellows.

How to find the fellows with whom we can truly connect? First, we have to know who we are. How can I join a community of like-minded people if I don't know my Self? Self-discovery is a vital part of making that community connection.

For instance, I used to try to connect with the party crowd. It's who I thought I was. Bar-hopping, shot slamming, wild and crazy guys and gals. But aside from some drug-induced conversations that felt really deep in the moment I mostly just felt more alone than ever.

Time for a new crowd! I had to come to terms with the Truth: This is not who I am.

So who am I really? I am a person who has a desire to live a clean life, a spiritual life, a life of service and connection and Love. I am a person who believes in Higher Guidance. Once I connected with my true Self I could begin to connect with others like me.

Finding our fellows is not necessarily an easy task. It takes time and energy and a large dose of willingness. But those whom we seek are out there. Whenever I lead Cultivate Your Courage there is inevitably someone in the group who will say, "I can't believe I'm in a room full of people who live with fear the way I do."

Believe it. We're out here. Come and find us.

Inspiring Message of the Day: The cure for my loneliness is Community. I will continue on the path of Self-discovery so that I may begin to seek out like-minded people and find my place among them.