Happy Equinox
Hello Ladakh Travelers-
This past weekend my sister hosted an Equinox celebration to welcome the coming of the Autumn, at her place in the woods of Vermont which included a “Meditation Nature Walk” during which all of you were filling my thoughts…
We were walking through the forest, observing falling leaves, crawling salamanders, listening to the bubbling brook and having various “ New England nature” experiences, when we were advised to pick a place to sit. I chose a mossy rock beside the stream where I noticed an intricate circular spider web spanning the width of the water.
Once I settled into my chosen spot I realized there were two other beautiful webs similarly spun upon various branches nearby, connecting twigs and branches and other objects. My mind got wrapped around thinking of all of you somehow and how you are in the midst of building so many connections in new places. I observed yesterday how tentative and yet how strong the webs were… in some cases stringing fully across the stream, in others just partially connecting. Just like you all will be gently, tentatively stepping forward to new places soon (literally and figuratively) as you begin the trek and move towards people and places that you likely knew little about before
recently.
Bear with me, as I explore the web metaphor just a bit more… there was the web symbolizing the interconnectedness between everyone (that we also saw represented in the orientation “rope web” activity” we did in the Catskills and which you also will see in the symbol of the Tibetan knot often in the weeks to come)… then, there were the connections that all of you are making between the world you know and the ones you are just beginning to know. How many of you had ever met a Ladakhi person before this week? By now you have likely had conversations with dozens of Ladakhis and some of them are likely now your friends. The connections may be fragile at first (just like strands from a spider’s web) but they may also be stronger than you would imagine.. (there was a big storm the night before my “nature walk” and those webs were fully intact!).
So, keep building new webs and discovering the "webs" and commonalities that might have existed already but that you did not realize at first… You might find yourself feeling a bit tangled and discombobulated at times as you weave your way through the coming months, but that is all to be expected. In some cases you will be meeting people Global Lab has had relationships with for years, in other cases you may be the first person from the US making a connection with someone you are talking to. In either case… thank you for choosing to join in this cross-cultural adventure. I believe that building connections to help increase understanding between the diverse people in our world is one of the most important experiences you can have and one of the most important things people can do to contribute to a better future for all of us on our big, complicated planet.
Take care and happy Autumn to you all !
Love, Michelle
michelle@global-lab.org