Yearning For Joy And Connection

hearondickson9
4 days ago
3 min read

Where were you when the Artemis II crew splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean? My hunch is that most of you can answer that question. I was in a brewpub in Annapolis (for you locals: Chessie's Wharf). It was a beautiful spring Friday evening, meaning the place was crowded with the after-work crowd and young families. Their one television was dialed in to the coverage of this event, but most people were only casually glancing at the screen. UNTIL. Until the countdown clock showed us that the re-entry to earth's atmosphere was only minutes away. 25,000 miles per hour! Can you even imagine? Soon enough, the bar was quiet. All eyes on the screen. There it is!! We watched, mostly silently, as the impossibly small dot carrying four human beings (four of US!!) sank, literally like a rock, to the ocean below. And then the parachutes opened. WHEW! And then the big parachutes opened. WHEW! And then, finally, they splashed into the ocean and the place erupted into a cheer. High fives with strangers! It was a joy to behold; tears form (again) as I write this.

What was it about this journey that so captivated us? I have a theory, and candidly it ties in very closely to how the monks walking towards Washington captivated us earlier this year: we are starving for joy; we are starving for community and connections; and these events provide that for us. They give us hope; they demonstrate the good that exists within all of us; they give us a break from the noise that surrounds us. The astronauts themselves captured this in their post-flight interviews, but the one comment that I keep thinking about came from Christina Koch, when describing what it meant to her to be part of that crew: "Planet Earth, you are a crew!" Wow, how true. We are so divided; we are fighting wars; the disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots" is wider than ever. Our "leaders," rather than unifying us, seek to further divide us. Is this how a crew should operate? I know my own answer to that. And that is why this journey resonates so much for so many of us. We want to be a crew! Put me in, coach! The vast majority of us don't want this division; we want to be on Team Planet Earth. A crew.

A brief side note: what a victory for SCIENCE. Remember science?That's all I will say about that.

Community and connection are themes I tend to think about and talk about a lot. I truly believe that human connection is our path through the divisiveness. Read more here.

What about meditation and mindfulness?

One reason we attempt to cultivate mindfulness is so that we, over time, are less reactive to situations which trouble us. And being less reactive places us in better position to relate well to other people which....can make us good community members, or, in an organizational environment, good partners and teammates. Put me in, coach!

Some updates:

My favorite community building opportunity is via an activity group. Lisa and I are nearing our 6th anniversary of StayTunedYoga, leading online yoga classes and international retreats. 15 of us leave in early May for Peru and another group of us will go to the Galapagos in late October/early November. These trips are magical.
Interested in exporing a meditation practice? this group meets Thursdays at 8AM EST for 15 minutes of meditation.
An update worthy of another, future newletter:
- This winter I began teaching weekly yoga classes at two prisons in downtown Baltimore on behalf of the Prison Yoga Project. I would love for you to take a look at their site. This is eye-opening, to say the least.