The 3rd principle of the Deep Hum Dancers: To understand that life is constant change, both externally and internally, that bits and pieces of the rest of the universe are constantly moving in and out of our “selves” bringing new information and insight and helping us grow into more connected beings.”
In Dancing the Deep Hum, I say: All the cells in my body have changed several times. Every time I breathe in, I take in air that has been exhaled from someone else. When I move, heat energy leaves my body and warms another person. And that person’s energy is heating me! My skin is sloughing off. New skin is growing. I’m taking in food, water, and eliminating wastes. The average human body is 70 percent water, but not the same water. Water is constantly flowing from me, from every person, to every person all over the world….. In The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene says, “Two electrically charged particles influence each other by exchanging [small bundles] of light.”(p 124) So this exchange is happening on the smallest of levels with all of us, with everything. (pp 82-84)
Not just my physical self is changing and exchanging. As I read, listen to the radio, talk to my friends, etc., I am taking in new ideas and dispersing my thoughts to others. My beliefs, concepts, and ideas change, and so do theirs!
To be open to this kind of exchange of ideas can be quite distressing. I can easily go into a kind of overload state after a morning of listening to KPFA commentators interviewing experts on health care reform, the war in Afghanistan, water rights being trampled on in India, etc. (KPFA was founded in 1948 as the first listener owned, public radio station in the country. You can listen to it online at www.kpfa.org)
If we understand that we are part of the whole of the universe, we understand that what hurts someone in India hurts us. We understand that even though we personally did not do the “bad” things, knowledge of it gives us a responsibility to try and stop the “bad” things.
Whew! So many “bad” things! How can I stop them? No wonder so many people want to be like the three monkeys and see no evil, hear no evil and tell no one else about the evil. Actually, the rules of etiquette that I grew up with told me to do exactly that. Close my eyes and my ears, and above all, don’t talk about it. Doesn’t seem like a good recipe for change!
And maybe that’s the source of the anxiety. If we allowed the information to move freely through us, like breathing in and breathing out, we might be able to think more clearly about what actions we can take to alleviate the “bad”. The trick is not to let them get stuck. We can’t solve all the problems, but we can be aware of them.
So take a deep breath. Let it out with a sigh! (See InterPlay for more about sighing!)
Next week: You say “dark matter” is flowing right through me all the time? Yikes! What’s that?
My book, Dancing the Deep Hum, goes into this concept of the ever changing self in much more detail. You can learn more about the book and my other writings at www.deephum.com. You can purchase Dancing the Deep Hum online at Lulu.com, Amazon, or Powells, or order it from your local bookstore.