We are all connected:
A personal experience with my horse from Peri
As we come into our day of Silence for this month of August, I have been contemplating the experience of deep interconnection with All Things. Personally, I have both known this intellectually and have had numerous experiences of this as true at a ‘cellular’ level. Most of these experiences when they happen come unsought and unbidden ~ they just arrive and are present. And I had one of these this week that seemed particularly suited to note about the practice of Silence that these monthly days cultivate in myself.
This past weekend Andrew and I were in the middle of watching a movie on TV here at our home when suddenly a burst of fireworks went off literally across the street! For those who know our home, we have two new horses and their paddock is right across from where these fireworks exploded. Needless to say, they began to gallop frantically around their paddock. I immediately went outside to be with the situation and see what I might do to calm them down. Much to my surprise I expected the fireworks to stop any minute ~ however they went on for over half an hour, full of sound and brilliant multicolored light displayed bursting in the forest.
I had recently been advised by my horse trainer that when something confusing to the horses is occurring it does not help them to say things like ‘It is okay, everything is fine’….because they will pick up on your trying to make them feel okay and sense your stress. So, what I chose to do instead was to simply stand quietly by their fence and breathe and relax and be totally at peace in myself.
It was a beautiful, cool, clear evening and the stars were out and the air was crisp. As I stood there and just was quiet, quite quickly they stopped galloping around and came and stood right next to me on the other side of the fence. Their breathing slowed and finally they just stood there amidst all the sound and lights and noise exploding right in front of us …. Together the three of us just ‘hung out’. In about 15 minutes, Andrew came out and joined us.
There was a deep sense of quiet that simply enfolded this event. I could feel that these beautiful horses locked directly into my own state of Being to discover a way to relax with what was clearly a very stressful and confusing event. And as their calm descended I felt my own relaxation go deeper and wider.
We are, indeed, so very closely interconnected. Our own inner state is constantly interacting with all aspects of creation. For myself, the ongoing practice of Silence, not only on the last day of each month but as it lives with me every day, is the place in which I most often experience the ‘cellular truth’ of our interconnection.
I am also attaching a beautiful story that builds on this theme as well ~ it is about a man who rescued and worked with elephants for much of his life. He died recently and a group of elephants walked a long distance to come to his home and honor him….we live in a truly interconnected universe.
With special affection from us both ~
Peri & Barbara