Allies
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we have allies, both seen and unseen, supporters known and not yet quite known. When we’re trying something new, it’s easy to imagine that we have to do it all alone. I’ve believed this so often and am just now realizing what a fallacy it is and always has been. The rugged American spirit of individuality is rooted deeply in our culture but we are really never alone. We stand on the shoulders of previous generations. From our toothbrush to the click of our computer mouse, we benefit every day in so many ways from the creativity of artists, inventors, designers, and those who brought new ideas into being. We live in the rich thickness of connected life.
Life by its nature is alive with support. We live within the web of life with so many connections and so many people who are working in similar ways, envisioning similar things, and who are working toward bringing more beauty, justice, and love into this world. As I began to create a list of supporters and like-minded individuals, I was shocked and delighted by how many people appeared on the ‘Allies’ list. What’s interesting to me is that they were always present while somehow the idea of outside support eluded me. My work and my desire to create something new seemed like an incredibly lonely pursuit, a monumental burden, a great heaviness.
I take comfort in a line of a Rickie Byers Beckwith song that I love but never fully understood. “I used to think I had to do it all by myself.” Just outside our perception, there is so much more. So much that is bigger than we are, both physically and spiritually. Allies abound. Step outside the patterns of habit. Look around.
“I Release and I Let Go” — Rickie Byers Beckwith
