Awaken Consciousness Magazine

by Tegan Carter Lange

I believe connectedness is the key to unlocking the barriers to a more peaceful, equitable, happier world. When our minds are opened to the thoughts and experiences of other people we are no longer limited by the bounds of our own narrow understanding. Misunderstandings, unsupported assumptions, and, especially, lies, lead to fear of the unknown and clinging to the little we think we know. When we learn to be comfortable with the vulnerability of opening ourselves to others we are able to collaborate in sifting through our collective ideas and experiences and together we gather the nuggets of truth embedded within. We accumulate and amalgamate these nuggets into a larger, clearer concept of truth. To then continually humble and open ourselves to others in order to exchange each of our own unique collections of truth only furthers the opening of minds and continues the culling of untruths, culminating in a greater intelligence achieved only collectively.

This is not unlike the hive intelligence of bees. Individually, each bee contains the capacity for very little knowledge, yet through a form of communication humans can only speculate about, the hive as a whole has a greater culminated knowledge than any one bee can contain or be held responsible for. The more we locate, assimilate, and disseminate truth the closer we, as a whole organism, come to fully understanding and making better decisions regarding the earth and the creatures who live upon it.