Seen one at a time, people are independent beings. But could we widen our view and see Earth’s entire ecosystem as one connected whole? From that perspective, each person might appear as a constituent of Earth.
Every moment, we breathe and eat. Matter moves between our bodies and the environment, and Earth’s resources keep circulating. Even when we talk and breathe in the same room, some of the air I exhale mixes with the surrounding air and may become part of the air the other person inhales. Some of the matter that made up or passed through my body may enter the other person’s body and become part of it. When I think about it this way, even talking and breathing together feel like a close interaction between our bodies.
We tend to think of the self, or our existence, as fixed. Yet the matter that makes up our bodies keeps changing and moving between us and our surroundings. In this sense, I think we are like clouds. That is why I like watching clouds floating in the sky. Looking at clouds makes me reflect on my existence and my life. I also think clouds are so beautiful in their own right.
Each of us has a self and a history. The countless grains on a beach also have their own boundaries and exist apart from one another. They can break under pressure or friction, or clump together when wet. I find myself picturing sand gathering loosely or holding together more firmly.
If we looked at Earth from far outside it, might a person appear like a single grain of sand on a beach? Perhaps like a barely noticeable fragment of a cloud, a molecule of air, or a speck of dust. It was a fun thought to imagine.
People also share emotions and have a strong influence on one another’s worlds through words and actions. Relationships can involve pain, difficulty, and disappointment. In some relationships, people use others or are used themselves. Some people try to guard against being used or keep their emotions from being swayed by someone else’s words and actions.
I try to see these changes in relationships as events that unfold as we affect one another, much as grains of sand break apart or clump together. Seeing them this way seems to make me a little more detached. It feels as though I were looking down from a high place. It also lets me look at my own striving to have more, my efforts to gain something, and my struggle with loss from a little distance.
Sometimes a passing emotion takes hold of me, or I feel hatred toward someone. Sometimes thinking about the hardship I am facing draws me deep into negative thoughts. In those moments, seeing myself as a changing, connected part of Earth can give me a sense that things are less of a big deal than I thought. The hatred seems to ease a little, too. For me, this perspective seems to help me step back when I get caught up in fixations, emotions, or negative thoughts, and look at myself from a little distance.