Living in a Silo
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how, in modern times, we live our lives in silos. Instead of having collective, shared experiences, most of our daily lives revolve around individual experiences. Even for people in a similar life stage, like kids in school, having the experience of being in the 2nd grade vs. being in the 5th grade is a drastically different daily experience. For partners, or roommates, more often than not, the daily experience for one, with its joys and stressors, does not mirror the experience of the other.
In the past, for example, a family working a farm would experience a collective daily routine. Each person having their part contributing to the overall success, created a deeper sense of compassion and empathy. Having a shared experience, with a common goal, creates feelings of unity and connectedness. With this “silo living” often feelings of loneliness, isolation and disconnectedness dominate.
While I don’t have the solution or a fix for this reality, I do hope that bringing awareness to this fact may provide some comfort. Even if it’s not possible to change our daily routine, to create more shared experiences, perhaps consider the practice of making the time to listen and learn from your friends and family about how daily life feels for them. Having curiosity about what those we care about are experiencing on a daily basis (the ups and downs) will help promote feelings of understanding and connectedness. As we become more deeply connected with our friends and family units, this energy will radiate out into our world, hopefully promoting more peace and unity.
Brand New Day
With every dawn comes a fresh start. No matter what happened yesterday or years before that, today is a brand new chance to live your best life and be the best person you can be. Make better food choices, be kinder to and more compassionate with all those you encounter, respect our planet, have grace with yourself, go after your dreams. As evening sets in and you realize today didn’t go as you hoped, leave the past in the past, try again tomorrow, and so on and so on…..