Some Thoughts on Connection

Published last year, Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy suggests that meaningfulness and connection can be magnified in our lives through engaging with our communities and the spaces we live. To do that, she asks us to slow down and to pay attention in a deep, sustained way. It’s an idea that resonates with me.

Being open and available to deep connection sometimes means doing less.

Here's a brief video of Odell explaining the premise of her book, and below are some of my favorite thinkers on connecting with our own lives, with others, and with the natural world around us.

-       "Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth." — Henry David Thoreau

-       “I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.” ― Brené Brown

-       “I am a part of all that I have met.” – Lord Tennyson

-       “A hidden connection is stronger than an obvious one.” — Heraclitus

-       "Not just beautiful, though—the stars are like the trees in the forest, alive and breathing. And they’re watching me." — Haruki Murakami