we're all connected

The world is a huge place, and I think we all feel the distance on a daily basis when we read and see footage of war-torn countries, countries reeling with poverty, and moments later, lavish wealth in others.

It's easy to think our personal causes are futile, and our contributions limited. How much can one person really DO?

The world is big, too many people have to act to make big change happen, even if I act I don't see a difference.

I remembered over the past few days something I used to struggle with when I worked with abused and neglected children, many of whom had parents' whose rights had been terminated, which put these children in the custody and care of departments of social services. The children had therapists, case managers, teachers, houseparents, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and more, and even so, it sometimes felt like they had no one, because as hard as this team of people worked, they couldn't always provide exactly what the children needed at the exact moment they needed it.

There is a clear memory in my head of a day I sat in a clinical supervisor's office bemoaning how futile it was. I can see the light falling in through the window behind her head and her very curly long hair silhouetted as she said one sentence: "We're all connected. You do your part and trust that it links up to the next person's part."

I immediately had the image of a ladder, or a bridge, and the accompanying notion that my part was not building the entire ladder, nor was it to build the entire bridge. My part was to put my rung in place, or my plank on the bridge. As long as I kept doing that, and everyone else kept doing that, and we all filled in when needed if someone couldn't do their one part, the bigger structure would get built.

This week I decided my plank in the rollkur bridge is to write an article.

In the past 48 hours I have been in contact with Paul Belasik, Gerd Heuschmann, Sylvia Loch, and now Pepper Ballard of the Humane Society of the United States.

I have no connections to these people, except that of course, I DO.

I have audited Paul's clinics several times and love his beautifully written books. I have read Gerd Heuschmann's book and articles, and felt relief that someone with a degree in veterinary medicine is taking the issue on in such a big, important way. I was thrilled to discover Sylvia's writing and her classical riding group that is and has been for a long while so active in working on this issue. This week I have been reading daily about the Humane Society's work in shutting down an abusive veal processing plant.

And although I write a lot about zen and the peace and calm of my quiet little corner of this big wide world, I also know the power of this thing called the internet, and a more subtle power that we all have but don't always remember:

we are all connected.

(photo credit to dear husband - I used this a few weeks ago but it's so perfect for this post I had to use it again!)