Connection doesn’t care about the laws of the land.
Your soul will be pulled to the place it belongs.
Unknown

Contributors; Sharon Cooke, Karen Connon, Paula Malandruccolo, Spencer St. Amand

I See This Differently Now

As I have been working on myself and learning that mental health is not something to be ashamed of, I have noticed that the connections I make now are different.

I used to connect with people who needed me to take care of them instead of being their friend. I thought being needed was the same as being connected. I would give and give, and sometimes I didn’t even realize that I wasn’t getting a friendship in return.

I have let go of connections with family members and old friends because they no longer fit with the choices I am making for my life. This hasn’t always been easy, but I am learning that just because someone has been in my life for a long time doesn’t mean they have to stay there forever.

My culture and family structure are not the only ways I connect with people anymore. I am learning that connection can come from many different places. Support groups, school, friendships, and people I meet along the way can all bring something different into my life.

I am choosing to connect with people and organizations that help me grow as a person instead of holding me back or telling me that the way things have always been is the way my life has to be.

I also take more time now to make sure the connections I make are right for me at that time. I am learning to listen to myself and pay attention to how a connection makes me feel and what it brings into my life.

I am also learning that not every connection is meant to last. Sometimes people will leave my life, and sometimes I will choose to let someone go. Other times, new people will enter my life when the time is right and when I need that connection.

I see this differently now.

I used to think losing a connection meant something was wrong or that I had failed. Now I can see that sometimes people are part of our lives for a reason, a season, or a certain part of our journey.

I am learning that I don’t have to hold onto every connection just because it has always been there.

I can choose.

And for me, that is part of growing.

Contributor; Paula Malandruccolo

Unexpected Connections

Connections — they can be strong and deeply rooted in our past. They can be healthy, or they can be problematic. They can be intentional, or totally unexpected.

Some connections stay with us for a lifetime. Others last only for a moment. And some are so ordinary we barely notice them — until we stop to think about them.

Here are some of the unexpected connections that have shaped my life and, in ways both big and small, continue to shape how I live it today.

People — the little girl I babysat 55 years ago who somehow became a lifelong friend and confidant.

Places — shopping at Costco — when someone recommended the cashew nut dip I was holding in my hand. I bought it. Of course I did. We were connected.

Memories — sometimes evoked by a smell. My mother’s lavender bath salts.  Fresh-baked bread, and fresh country air – occasionally punctuated by cow paddies!

Nature — the majesty of the Rocky Mountains. The vastness of the land north of 60. Places that can make you feel very small and very connected at the same time.

Kindness — remembering the stranger who stopped to ask if I needed a ride home as I trudged through a winter blizzard. I didn’t know her.  She didn’t know me. And yet, all these years later, I remember her.

Wi-Fi — because apparently, I can’t email this piece without those four little bars in the corner of my screen.

Glasses — which are often sitting right on top of my head while I search the house for them.

Some unexpected connections are deep. Some are fleeting. Some are surprising.

And some simply help us find our glasses.

Contributor; Karen Connon

Sometimes The Connection Becomes The Bridge

We often think changing our lives is something we have to do on our own.

We tell ourselves we need to be stronger, make better decisions, work harder, or some how figure everything out by ourselves.

But I’ve learned that some of the biggest changes in our lives happen because of connection.

Sometimes it’s one person who sees something in you that you can’t see in yourself yet.

Someone who answers the phone. Someone who gives you an opportunity when your past says you shouldn’t get one.

Someone who holds you accountable without making you feel like you’re beyond hope.

Connection doesn’t always mean having a huge circle of people around you. You can be surrounded by people and still feel completely alone.

Real connection is different. It’s knowing there are people you can be honest with. People who don’t disappear when things get uncomfortable.

People who challenge you to grow while still accepting where you are today.

For people trying to rebuild their lives, those connections can mean everything.

We talk a lot about housing, employment, treatment, education and community resources—and all of those things matter. But sometimes we underestimate the importance of simply having someone in your corner.

Because programs can provide resources, but people create belonging.

And belonging can give someone a reason to keep showing up.

I’ve learned that we don’t have to walk every part of our journey alone. Sometimes the connection we make today becomes the bridge that helps us get somewhere we never thought we could reach.

Contributor; Spencer St. Amand

We Are Here

When I was younger my belief was that people in my life were my connection.

These connections didn’t always go well. Lack of love and support. More often than not, rejection, ridicule, abuse.

Which took me into the, “Not good enough syndrome,” of being unloved.

Then one day, Life said to me. “You know, we are here. We are always here.”

It took me a bit to hear it, then to absorb it – then even more time, to say, “Yes,” and reach out.

Life, Spirit, Goddess, God, the Divine – whatever you are comfortable with, was attempting to communicate to me.

“We are here, but you have to ask. You have choice. You can give the humans the job of loving you, supporting you or you can call on us.”

“The humans, are dealing with  some of the same challenges as you. Feelings of confusion, lost, unloved. Asking them to give you what they need themselves, might be a long shot. I mean – you’re asking them to give you something, they may not have.”

“We’ll help you to come to love yourself and in turn attract more loving connections.”

Spirit and I now have a good relationship. I know I’m never alone. I always have this energy to converse with, align to, ask for  counsel, direction. It is a higher vibration of myself.

I am love and light. This is my truth. This is my connection.

Contributor; Sharon Cooke

Photo by; Sharon Cooke