Galen Pearl

Galen Pearl

Galen Pearl

No Degrees of Separation

In one of my favorite scenes in Star Trek Voyager, the character named Seven of Nine thwarts the evil Borg queen’s plan by reading her mind. As the queen looks surprised, Seven calmly notes, “Our thoughts are one.”

You might be familiar with the term “six degrees of separation,” meaning that all of us are connected to everyone else on the planet by no more than six intermediary contacts. And while that might be true, there is a deeper and more immediate connection through our very being, which connects all of us, indeed all living things, in the vast network of creation.

The largest living organism on the planet is a mushroom fungus that covers many square miles. The fungus is a web of filaments under the ground. What we think of as mushrooms is actually the fruit of the fungus, sprouting up here and there above the ground, yet all connected under the surface.

Like us. We are all individual expressions of the single organism of creation. We are never really separate, and everything we do generates energy that affects everything else.

This gives “we’re all in this together” a whole new level of meaning.

Something to contemplate this Monday morning.

Our individual separateness is in a sense illusory; …our minds are the fitful flashes of eternal light. ~Will Durant

4 thoughts on “No Degrees of Separation”

  1. We are definitely living in trying times, and I have already been feeling how connected we all are as our lives move from day to day into more uncertainty. I am glad I have this virtual community to share my concerns with. Thank you for all that you do, Galen.

    1. Thank you for the kind words, DJan. What a great example of connection. You offered a simple thank you that brought a smile to my heart. Our virtual community gives us so many opportunities to connect and offer kindness.

      Yes, these are trying times indeed. Your posts about cutting back on news, spending time outside, connecting with friends all offer wisdom about how to navigate such times as these.

      1. Your thoughts dove-tail with my personal belief in the little of the infinite in all of us. When our bodies give out in this life, that spark does not die. Call it a soul or something else, but it is the essence that connects all living force. Regardless of how difference we appear to be in this life, we share something that binds us all.

        1. Your image of an a spark fits nicely with the “flashes of eternal light” from the quote. Yes, something binds us all, no matter what we call it. Thanks for commenting, Bob.

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