The Power of Connectedness
“Invisible threads are the strongest ties.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
I’ve watched this video of 1,000 musicians performing “Learn to Fly” countless times. I’ve even used it to open presentations and professional learning sessions to convey the power of being connected to a group.
While that video is almost six years old, the lessons are still relevant to our time (also, it’s just a great video that will have you rocking along with the group and yes, the Foo Fighters totally responded).
The Rockin’ 100 has gone on to create several other videos that are well worth the watch. Again, these videos are important not because of the musicianship displayed (pretty great) nor the songs chosen (also pretty great) but for the sheet demonstration of a group of people saying, “we can do this if we do it together.”
Since March 2020, we’ve all had some things that we weren’t able to do together. Actually, unless you just wanted to throw caution to the wind, there wasn’t much we could do together as a large group.
My hope is that in the coming months, we all have a better appreciation for the experience of gathering together in all its varied forms. Whether it’s a concert, a play, a graduation ceremony, or just a big family reunion, there is power in connecting with others in person.
Of course, I’m a big fan of connecting remotely but that’s because I’m an introvert and in-person = fear and doom. But I’m slowly getting over that mostly due to the forced isolationism of the past 15 months.
We’re all in this together. We’ve always been part of a connected world, long before the Internet became a part of our daily lives and we had phones attached at our hips everywhere we went. Connectedness is a part of the human experience. It’s what makes us better.
When we all look out for each other, we make the world a better place, even if it’s just our own small part of the world. Our families, our friends, our acquaintances, they all make up our part of the larger world and they all have influence over our decisions.
Marcus Aurelius said, “What is not good for the beehive, cannot be good for the bees,” and we can draw the conclusion that what is good for the beehive is good for the bees. We do not exist in a bubble that has no effect on others, contrary to what many conspiracy theorists and random jackasses might have you believe.
We’re all in this together. This is our world. Our one home. This “pale blue dot” is the only home we’ll ever know.
Take care of yourselves, and each other.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash