US vs. THEM

We divide ourselves. We are told that we are separate. We are encouraged to disagree with, dislike, and fear “others”. But this is a BIG LIE. We are ALL ONE - what prevents us from believing it?

We just can’t seem to help ourselves.  We proudly identify who we are and what we believe. Then we start scanning those around us – who is like me and who is different?  Who is aligned with the way I think and who is opposite?  Who will I commune with and who will I reject?  And before you know it, a polarity is born, reinforced, defended, and revered. 

I guess we act this way because part of our brain has the task of keeping us safe to ensure our survival. And survival has always been more likely when we are part of a group that is made up of similar members. 

Being part of a tribe – whether it be fans of a sports team, members of a political party, or residents of a neighborhood – makes us feel good and strong through powerful emotions like pride, comradery, optimism, certainty, and belonging.

So on one hand you can understand why we do it…

As a kid this even played out between me and my sister:  she sat behind dad in the car; I sat behind mom; she like canned peaches best, I liked apricots; her favorite color was purple, mine was green. Her favorite Charlie’s Angel was Jill, mine was Kellie.  We didn’t stray from these “sides” once they were established- we knew who we were.

BUT ARE WE REALLY THAT DIFFERENT?

What if we focused instead on how we are all similar? 

What if we unified ourselves around all these things that we share in common and stopped putting so much weight on how we are different from each other?  This is the enormous opportunity for growth that has been set before us.

Polarity opens the door for discrimination, conflict, closed-mindedness, and judgment.

Unity, however, ushers in acceptance, willingness, cooperation, diversity, and appreciation for variation in skills and talents.

FROM POLARITY TO SIMILARITY TO BEING ONE

How would our individual lives change if we operated on the assumption that we are all one?  That what I do to you, I do to myself and what I say to myself, I say to you too?  The parts that I love about you are the parts that I love about myself – same goes for the parts that I hate.

What does it even mean for us all to be one?

“[We are all One] is telling us that you are me and I am you; that we are part and parcel of Everything. We are intermingled as differing energy forms in a Larger Form that includes All That Is. And so, we are not only One with each other, but One with the Earth and every living thing upon it. One, as well, with the Universe. And One with that Divine Essence that we call God.

The implications of this for the human race are staggering. If we believed this was true, everything in our lives would change. Everything in our religions, in our politics, in our economics, in our education, and in our social constructions. And everything in our personal lives as well.”

- Neale Donald Walsch

If we are all one, there is no “other”.  If we are all one, polarity between us can’t exist!  Well that would certainly change our collective worldview, wouldn’t it?

WE ARE ALL ONE, BUT WE AREN’T ALL THE SAME

Being all One doesn’t eliminate our individuality.  Each of us has a unique essence or spirit that we are tasked with caring for, developing, and expanding during this lifetime.  How we live, the choices we make with our free will, the emotions and mindset we let predominate, the growth that we agree to do – all of this affects the degree to which the divine flows through us. 

So our individual choices and experiences affect the whole web of interconnected life and consciousness.  What we do, think, say, and believe matters.

Our inner work of healing, knowing and loving ourselves, unconditionally being in our true essence, and aspiring to sovereignty are essential in helping the collective realize our Oneness.  For what we do as individuals affects the whole.

“Yes, we are all one, from our very roots but for that, we have to connect with ourselves and realize our true self, so that we can portray it outside. Unless we completely understand ourselves, we cannot understand the concept of unity among us all.”

- Roshan Sharma

So in the spirit of becoming stronger, let’s commit to at least becoming aware of when and how we perpetuate separateness in our own lives, with our thoughts and words, and what we choose to pay attention to.  Shall we?

I encourage you to engage with the “other side” by talking to someone you wouldn’t normally, reading something you wouldn’t normally, trying on a different worldview for a minute or two.  While you are venturing into that uncomfortable, unknown territory of the other side, keep in mind some of the ways that you are similar to the people “over there”. 

In this way we gradually will move away from our polarities and reawaken to the Oneness that we are.

Unity is the name of the game because together we are stronger!

Photo by Jimmy Conover on Unsplash