Do We Connect by Doing or Being?

When I set out to crunch through the fall leaves at a favorite state park, I expected to connect to nature and other hikers. The goal for the weekend was to introduce a friend to all the park had to offer from sandstone canyons accessible only by ladders and a suspension bridge access to miles of trails to a punch bowl waterfall accessible only by traversing a running stream.

I expected to connect by doing.

Instead, within the first few minutes, on the way down to the first trail – using built-out stairs and holding onto a railing – I misjudged the step down and twisted my right ankle badly, causing me to fall, twist, and land on my left ankle. (It would be so much more interesting had the fall occurred while doing a rock scramble or fording a rock-strewn stream.)

Knowing the injuries were significant, my friend convinced me to spend the rest of the trip resting in the very definition of “doing nothing.” It turned into a weekend of being rather than doing.

While the goal of Social Seahorse Connections is to highlight those who are actively connecting and creating community, it all must be grounded in knowing that what we do flows out of who we are.

First, we must be.

After arriving home, (and confirming by x-ray that the right foot is badly sprained and left one fractured), I encountered this quote:

We have a tendency to think in terms of doing and not in terms of being.

We think that when we are not doing anything, we are wasting our time.

But that is not true.

Our time is first of all for us to be.

To be what?

To be alive, to be peaceful, to be joyful, to be loving.

And that is what the world needs most.

-Thich Nhat Hanh

What we do arises out of who we are – our being.  The people and organizations profiled here are impacting their world with what they do because of who they are.

So the answer to the question is both – Connecting is a doing action that both arises out of who we are and improves who we are by strengthening, enhancing, and adding new connections to others.

So, for the next few weeks of no weight-bearing allowed, I’m encountering maximum opportunities for being over doing . . . and I’m thinking that’s a most fitting way to kick off Social Seahorse Connections.

As we explore together the ways in which we connect with our world in meaningful ways being mindful first and foremost of who we are, our identities, is key; for, what we do springs from who we are.