Interconnectedness + Creativity
Accepting Life's Invitations
Trigger Warning: suicide
Monday, April 27, 2026
I’m lying in the sun on the trail behind the house. Birds twitter and call. Spring is here in Maine. Luna, my dog, is comfortable between my legs on this camping pad my mother in-law made for my daughter.
The husband and kiddo are off to work and school. I am on day 4 of healing from a respiratory-ish bug I got from travel. A cold I suppose.
Seeing the ground before me is so delicious to take in. Roots, orange pine needles, clover, grasses, moss, fallen birch seeds, dead leaves, gorgeous rose shaped pinecones, bursts of spring growth and one fly on an old plantain seed pod sitting in the sun with rainbows on its wings.
It occurs to me that the richness in life is echoed by death. The decay on this forest floor allows for life to flourish in the sun. These cycles go on, unbothered by my being here, or really anywhere.
A substantial gift before me is that while technically I can be anywhere, I am here, and now. Physically, I could move about the land, pick a different spot. I could drive to a different place or hop a plane to another spot on the globe. But I am here, and now.
Mentally, and in the blink of an eye I can travel back to a memory or even a feeling. I can visit a place in my mind that I enjoy, or a place in my mind I hang on to because I’m not quite sure how to let it go.
What’s more, I can even consider the future in my min. I can imagine or visualize some beautiful thing. I can daydream of all the most loving beautiful solutions for myself and humanity. Or, if I needed to, I could be absolutely terrified of what someone else is dreaming up.
And because I am literally quite limitless, I can accomplish those mental aspects right here, right now and in less time than it takes to fully steep a cup of tea.
And yet, as I lay here and write, I feel fully calm, immersed in the now: the sun warming my body, sounds of traffic going by, the neighbor’s lawnmower, birds chirping, the ache of my back in this position, intense greenery of clover amongst these dead orange pine needles. I can feel so many ideas and projects and people pulling me from being right here and now.
But I choose to tether here. Right now is where it all unfolds.
Every ounce of love I can squeeze out of this lifetime exists right now. It’s gorgeous. It’s unending. Fully interconnected. And in this feeling of interconnectedness, I am inspired. I want to create something beautiful.
I want to imagine and create a world where all beings are free: physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, financially and in any other form that anyone in the world ever has felt trapped, contained or restrained.
And just like that, the horses come into my consciousness with a reminder of potentially the most powerful lesson I’ve learned in this lifetime. And like any powerful lesson, it’s learned through experience.
Here’s the experience:
One day maybe three or four years ago my husband and I were driving along and came upon a vehicle pulled over and there was a woman sitting in the middle of the oncoming traffic lane. She sat on her butt, knees up, with her arms wrapped around them and her head down between her knees. She wrapped herself so tightly I felt she would shatter if someone touched her. We had pulled over and I went to this woman while he managed traffic flow. One other passerby had stopped to try and talk to her to no avail. I can’t fully explain what happened next, but I’ll do my best. It became just me and her there in the road. I know other people came and went because I told them to. We got water and a blanket somehow. And then it was just me and her. She was covered in bruises, scars, fresh open sores, and she had been badly beaten. I sat with her, offering my presence, sitting there with her in the dark. I remember how I felt like it was important she know that her and I are the same, that I wouldn’t separate the two of us by saying things like “oh you poor thing, let me help you”. I remember just asking her what brought her to the middle of the road today. I wasn’t fully prepared for the answer, but this also wasn’t about me. She explained that her ex, who will never actually let her go had beaten her and threw her out of his moving vehicle, where she landed there in the road, emotionally frozen and physically unable to move because of that. She went on to say how exhausted she was. Truly, soul level tired. She couldn’t do it anymore. She wanted to be run over, killed, and to die that day. In the same blink of an eye that I mentioned earlier on, her whole existence flashed before me. The full and complete lack of love that she experienced and the sweet, sweet release of death. I could feel the inner strength we all possess, deep within her. I asked if she would be ok with my touching her and if she wanted a hug. After a bit she said yes, and I wrapped myself around her. I felt a presence with us, and I brought up the inner strength offered up by this presence. She heard it, she received the words and she took them in. That felt like a small miracle in itself. And then she simply decided that no, she was just too overcome, too badly handled and too tired to feel like there was a way out and she wanted to die. I knew she had made her choice and the only thing I could say was that if she didn’t have the strength to carry on, she could borrow mine. That made her smile, and by that time the police had arrived. They called her by name and explained to me that she’s a regular. They took her away before I could think or do or say anything else. And she seemed to know the routine anyway. Off they went. Traffic had built up by then and police took over and my husband and I got back in our vehicle and carried on.
Later that day I had a lesson at the horse barn. It was a groundwork lesson, just me + the owner/trainer and a chestnut pony named Chester. We were free lunging in the small arena, which was a brand-new concept to me. She explained that I am to use my energy to ask the horse to walk in a circle around me, to change direction and walk the other way in a circle around me. Being relatively new to the horse world, I had my doubts. And looking back, I don’t think she did. We went through the lesson, and I was astounded at my ability to get Chester to do what I asked, without touching him or being near him. At the end of the lesson the owner pointed out the significance of what we just did, saying that he’s a 500lb animal and he didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to do today. He could have just stood at the door until the lesson was done. She explained that horses are herd animals and by choosing to engage in this lesson with me today, he considered me part of the herd.
It was in that moment and in that statement that I received a full download of the very significant life lesson and part of my purpose here on earth. I have been given the opportunity to let people know that they too are invited to be part of the herd. They are invited to stay in their body on earth, and they are invited to join in on the magical creations here. The joy, the pain, the beauty, the creativity, the suffering, the transitions, the loss, the love. Every single piece of this experience is an invitation. And it is all interconnected. And I was shown that not everyone will accept that invitation. As sovereign beings with free will, we are here to make our own choices.
I know those last two sentences are difficult. The message, however, was extremely clear.
CHOICE IS PERSONAL.
It is human nature to involve ourselves, our ideas of love, our connections and everything else possible to control that choice for people, for animals, and for whole societies. And while this could spiral into a substantial discussion of how mental health and suicide are becoming an epidemic on their own, we will continue on with interconnectedness and creativity.
It was in that moment in the middle of oncoming traffic with a woman so badly beaten, abandoned and left for dead that I felt and can still recall the most amount of unconditional love that is so powerful I have already sobbed at the feeling more than once writing this. She was a complete stranger, living in a reality worlds away from anything I’ve ever felt or experienced. And I fucking loved her so much. There was no distance between us. We are interconnected. And in that moment, she was helpless, abused, abandoned. I would do anything for her. Because she is all of us.
There is significant contrast between her life and mine. I have what I consider a healthy marriage, celebrating 25 years of being together just last week! I work from home, I get to ride horses every week, and we live in a safe community with enough abundance for healthy food, healthy water and the weather here is good. Pretty solid contrast between our two worlds I’d say.
In that contrast, an invitation is sent to all of us. We are invited to tap into the interconnectedness around us. If connecting to people is hard right now, try animals, or try plants. Or a weather pattern. A child, an art project. Connect with anything that feels beautiful.
In that space of connection, feel into what inspires you. What makes you feel limitless, what makes you feel like you have it all. What love shows up? In asking that question I can feel that a lot of you may fill that answer with what is missing, what’s lacking from allowing that feeling. Go with that too. Imagine that you have exactly what it is that you need, in full. Imagine the place you land when it’s all lined up and it’s all good.
Now that your needs are met, what would you create from there? Allow yourself to be selfish if that’s what is needed. Develop your own oasis. Let love flow from there. Create more, from love. Let love expand inward, outward and beyond your wildest dreams. Create!
When we dip into the interconnectedness of everything, we can tether to the texture of that reality, and we can create everything we need and so much more. We can extend that love to others, recognizing that they too have areas of lack that could use an overflow of love.
Why not?
Why not extend that outward to everyone, everywhere. Right here, right now. In your mind and in your heart. You don’t even have to leave your seat. You can be here, right now and in the blink of an eye, interconnect and create.
Onward!
T