At 4:00 a.m., roosters from my neighborhood and beyond start talking to one another. Singing up the sun, is what I’ve heard it called, and I believe it. I can imagine that roosters the world over are all connected, singing across the wind and the waves while the sun decides whether it wants to rise and shine on another day. Every rooster has his own voice, his own call, a sound that is uniquely his. Some say cock-a-doodle-do. Others say Oodle-oodle-oooh. Others say Urdle-urdle-ew. There’s one nearby who just makes a trumpeting sound with no syllables at all. My first few mornings here on the Big Island of Hawaii, I dreamed I was in a zoo, hearing an elephant trumpeting. Now, I can tune out the sound until I’m ready to wake up. But when I’m ready to stir, I wake enough to listen to the roosters’ conversations. Roosters aren’t prone to discussing politics or protocol. They’re more inclined to send messages of well-being or alarm. “I’m here, and all is well.” The messages echo through the neighborhood and beyond.
Elephants the world over sway to a music only they can hear. It comes up from the earth, and they absorb it through the wide pads of their enormous feet. Whales and dolphins sing through the ocean waters, sending messages to every other whale and dolphin on the planet. Turtles and tortoises have their own World Wide Web of communication. Even dogs do it, barking and howling to their nearest neighbors who then pass the message on… and on… and on.
Animals the world over communicate with one another. Every morning, day after day, year after year, the roosters sing up the sun. Whales and Elephants communicate with one another, the largest land animals and the largest ocean animals doing their part to connect the land and the water we all depend on for our survival. Tortoises and turtles connect with one another, using their ancient wisdom and slow, deliberate movements to reinforce the web of connection we all share. Every day, a vast network of cross-species communication provides the glue that connects the earth’s grid and holds space for our continued evolution as a thriving multi-species planet.
We humans seem to have forgotten how to communicate – and thus commune – with others of our species on such a deep and basic level. We get hung up on our differences and forget to recognize and honor the passions and concerns that connect all of humanity. We forget to connect with our own inner selves as often as we should, and most of us have never even thought of connecting with others in the way our animal friends do. But we can learn to strengthen the threads that bind us together as humans. Ask the next elephant you see. Ask your dog. They’ll tell you how (and why) to send our own messages of well-being into the vast web of connection we all share.
But I’ll give you some pointers to get you started.
Next time you meditate, take a few extra minutes to send your own messages of well-being along the web. “I’m here, and all is well.” Sit with that thought and what it means. “I am here.” Let’s take it down even further. “I am.” Feel the I am presence within you. It’s the spiritual core of your being, the part of you that is always fine, no matter what is happening in your life. Once you’ve experienced the feeling of I am and absorbed the quiet joy of beingness, expand that feeling outward with every breath until it fills the room, the house, the yard… “I am here.” Continue to expand your I am presence until you feel a spark of connection with another human, however far away they may be. Feel the connection strengthen until the tiny spark becomes a glowing ember. Feel the divine presence that connects and protects you both. Send the message: “I am. I am here. I am here, and all is well.” Sit with the connection for another moment and see if you can receive their message of quiet beingness. Send and receive healing if that feels appropriate. Now, release that connection and move further along the web, connecting with others until the experience feels complete. Now, bring your I am presence back in, retreating along the web until your energy and awareness is confined to your yard, your house, your room, yourself. The I am presence remains, a calming feeling of well-being that glows within.
Drumming is another way to connect with others. If you’ve never experienced a drum circle, give it a try. It’s a unique way to connect with friends. As you each find your own rhythm and weave it with the rhythm and sound of your friends’ drums, you begin to communicate on a level beyond words. The drums send that wordless communication and healing vibration swirling up from your circle of friends and out into the world.
Prayer circles can do the same thing. Healing circles can do the same thing. We just need to set the intention to care for our own inner selves, and then to send that positive energy out into the world for the benefit of our fellow humans and the world we share.
Simple but powerful.
