Savvy Women

His message about “compassion meditation” is exactly the one we all need to hear. In this age of ANXIETY and CONFRONTATION (Haves versus Have Nots, Red America versus Blue America, Tea Partiers versus Progressives, Wall Street versus Main Street, Men versus Women, East versus West, North versus South, the New World versus the Old World, etc, etc, etc) what we all need to relearn—yes, “relearn” is the right word because it’s clear we’ve forgotten—is that we’re all in this together.

Mindfulness (or awareness) is the first step in understanding our basic interconnectedness. Unfortunately, our busy lives and our culture often work against us in trying to develop this attentiveness. We rush around. We get caught up in our private problems. Our awareness of things larger than ourselves is diminished and then our perspective shrinks. We end up feeling all alone and crushed under a heavy weight.

It doesn’t help that American culture prizes independence so much—perhaps it’s the same for those who live in other parts of the post-industrial world? We all grow up learning that self-sufficiency is the greatest virtue. If a person can’t make it on her own, then something’s wrong with her. This emphasis on independence is good for providing us with the drive we need to be economically viable, but it can also leave us feeling alienated from others.