129 – Connection

Something to ponder: What does “Lights” mean to you? What ideas would you include if you were writing an essay about lights? See the Lights! page to submit your ideas.

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I like walking on the beach. It is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

I like it here. The soft, fine sand is commonly firmly packed along the waterline, so it is easy to walk a long way. The ever-present breezes occasionally gust into a stiff wind. The winter temperatures can be cold, cool, mild, warm, or hot. But no matter how cold it gets here, it is warmer than at home. These are some of the reasons I feel connected to this place.

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Yes – connected. A connection is a union of related items. People connect with a place, another person or a group of people, an event, a time, a place, a family, a birthplace, a heritage, and more including pets. Connections are something that most people want – actually crave.

Connections can be physical, mental, emotional, biological, intellectual, philosophical, historical, psychological, and interpersonal – through family, friends, community, spirituality, and work. Interpersonal connections can be platonic, romantic, or professional. The bottom line is that interpersonal connections are an important part of being human.

Yes – connections focus on personal encounters, but today connections are also made through social media as people from all over the world connect – and many yearn for what will probably not happen – that is, meeting. Social media also allows past connections to sustain from a distance – or even reconnect.

Connections are contextual relationships and associations. Thinking about a vacation reminds us of the people we encountered on that journey. People we may never meet again. Although our time together was brief, the trip served as our connection.

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Connections are like a tree with its branches going in many directions. However, all branches connect directly or indirectly to the trunk. In life, sometimes that trunk is me. My tree intertwines with branches of other personal trees. Another thought is that we are all leaves of the same tree but on different branches.

Some connections are like pieces of a puzzle. Pieces going smoothly together as if they are meant to be -and then clicking together as one.

Connections are a means of communication. From handwritten letters delivered by a rider on a horse or by a traveler to a postal service. From the wired telegraph to the wired phone. From space satellites to cellular towers. From wireless device to wireless device. Communication has served as humanity’s connection.

Today we think about the connection between each of us and the World Wide Web – yet we seldom think about all the connections between databases, servers, and terminals that give us accessibility to seemingly endless bits of information. No wonder many people panic when they lose that connection.

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As a social ballroom dancer, connection has a special meaning. Beyond the personal connection involved, dance partners communicate through a physical connection.

It’s his left hand and her right hand with the corresponding arms having just enough tension/rigidity – but not too much. His right on her left shoulder blade. Her left hand on his right shoulder. Each requires a certain amount of touch. Again, not too much. Other times, the hips or legs are in contact – and those connection points are also communication lines.

Yes – the best dances involve the best connections – and the best dancers clearly communicate and respond together seemingly as one. Their Tango, Waltz, and Foxtrot are effortless as they act out what they are – one. Good music can enhance their connection.

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Connections also relate to travel and transportation – especially in mass transit systems such as planes, buses, and trains. Travelers are often transported to another location to connect to their final destination.

Artists use art to connect others to a time, a place, an event, or other people. That statue in the town square carries a message that people should not forget. Yet to many, it is a nice statue because viewers do not know its significance. But many locals connect the significance of the past to the reminders of the present. Because they understand, they make a connection.

People connect by being in a community with one another. Common terms like people, villages, neighborhoods, towns, cities, and nations are about connections. Global connections are more difficult, but what if we acted more like one?

Connections are the feeling of fellowship through common attitudes, interests, and goals. The same is true for the like-minded around a common interest such as bloggers, photographers, artists, coin collectors, British car enthusiasts, ballroom dancers, and more. These connections bring about a place for kindness, learning, and respect.

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Everything in nature is connected because our planet is a world of many intertwining relationships and interactions. Through carbon-oxygen cycles, our carbon from the dinosaur age, plus the oxygen we breathe, may have been in the breaths of people long ago that we don’t know. The water that falls on our heads as rain may have splashed the face of someone famous in a distant land so long ago.

The reintroduction of wolves into an area does more than control the deer population. It also changes deer behaviors, vegetation growth, forest development, beaver activity, and more. All those factors are about connections.

Whether a union, link, association or relationship, a personal tie, a means of communication or transportation, the Internet, logical sequences, or even a contraband source as in The French Connection, all are connections. Do you remember Rube Goldberg machines – those wild, complicated, but funny contraptions of many events sequenced together to complete a simple task? They are definitely about connections.

And here – here – this beach is a place where the sea meets the land – another connection – and a wonderful place to walk. After all, I like walking on the beach because it is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

See what other bloggers have posted about Connection

• Deep connection (a poem)
• Laughter connects us to each other (a poem)
• The importance of connection (a personal essay)
• Broken connections (a poem)
• 40 animators around the globe “Pass the Ball” (an essay with a great video)
• 3 ways to inspire and connect (an essay)

Next Post: Key – Saturday 14th May @ 1 AM (Eastern US)

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