Living in an Age of Disconnection

I believe we are spiritual beings having a human experience. I call the spiritual part of us, our eternal nature, the Connected Self because it is inherently connected. And I believe the human part of us, which most call the Ego, is what experiences disconnection. We are human and as such, we are meant to be having a human experience in our lives, but generally speaking, the balance of Connected Self and Ego has become really out of whack. 

We are living in an age of disconnection. Our earlier ancestors lived more connected – to the land, to each other, to themselves, to the Divine. But as we have “evolved,” it seems we’ve become less connected rather than more. It seems the “evolution” of humans has actually been the strengthening of the parts of us that are human-focused and disconnected from the Divine. Especially in Western Culture and I’d say particularly in the US, the push has been to produce, produce, produce. Faster, Faster, Faster. More, More, More. And in the process, what we are experiencing is massive disconnection from ourselves, our truth, our inherent connection and the desire of our souls to live connected.

Connection is the currency of the soul.

Our society, industry and daily life isn’t built for connection. We have devices that allow us to stay “connected” all the time, but it seems the more “connected” we are with technology, the less connected we actually are - to the earth, to ourselves, other people, and the Divine (if we feel that draw). AND we’re taught to be individualistic – looking out for ourselves, being independent and strong, even succeeding “over” someone else or having power “over” another.  

Do you feel disconnected? I sure do. You may not recognize it as disconnection because it is underlying all of the symptoms that we are able to notice, but disconnection is really the problem underlying them. I believe disconnection is what causes basically all of our struggles. The most obvious of those is mental health, but really it is everything.

We disconnect from the Disconnection
On top of the inherent suffering of disconnection, we then try to treat the pain of disconnection with coping mechanisms that I call “disconnection drugs” or “agents of disconnection”  Whether we can label it or not (I believe it often looks like loneliness, anxiety, depression, shame, etc.), we feel the pain of disconnection and don’t want to feel it (understandably), so we find ways to disconnect from our pain – alcohol, drugs, food, television, video games, even more busy-ness, you name it. 

How do we fix it?
I believe it is our salvation (never thought I’d use that word) and our spiritual birthright to reconnect. To experience connection. That may mean we have to let go of some of our coping mechanisms and feel the pain of being disconnected, but I know from experience that acknowledging it and feeling it does help. And from there, we can build back our sense of connection – our inherent knowing of connection to Self, others and something greater than us – that is where the true healing happens.

In essence, that is the purpose of The Connected Way™. We are meant to live more connected, and to remember that underneath it all, we are connected. We experience deep pain when we forget we are connected – when our balance skews more towards individualistic disconnected focus. So the healing and the ease and peace come in when we find and connect with our Connection. 

Perhaps there is hope for the system as well.
I believe and hope that we are also hitting a tipping point in our culture - perhaps the rock bottom of disconnection. It has become abundantly clear to many that this is not working. That individualism and capitalism have become toxic and this disconnected way of life isn’t sustainable or healthy. My hope is that things will begin to shift (and they already are being shaken up a bit). And eventually, we will shift back towards the balance of living more Connected. 

I will be sharing ways to build on the connection in your life, but in the meantime, please be kind to yourself, notice the disconnection you may be experiencing (from the land, others, yourself, spirituality), and have compassion and grace for the coping habits you might employ to disconnect from that feeling. And remember that within you, you are inherently connected to the most loving source of energy and connected to all that is.   

Don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have questions and as always, I would love to hear if this resonates or brings anything up in you. I’m always here. 

Sending you so much love in these challenging times of disconnection,
Rev. Dev