Life at the other end

A butterfly flaps its wings in Japan and a tornado stirs in the South Atlantic. We have all heard about the theory of the butterfly effect.  The cataclysmic outcome that can come from one small, seemingly irrelevant event takes place a million miles away. 

But does it all truly interlink?  Is there a thread that ties the universe together or, do we just blunder about our own lives?

A less selfish person would live his life trying to help others and change the world. Others only chase their own glory and riches but how does it all come together?  Do the selfish or unselfish have an inadvertent effect on one another that they themselves are not even aware of?  Does the butterfly in Japan still flapping his wings in January not know that he was the cause of the hurricane that devastated half a continent a world away in September?  Sounds preposterous when I put it that way, but the effects still take time to unfold.   Dominoes line up to be toppled at the exact moment when the conditions of their equilibrium shift.

Some are aware of these shifts and changes that happen as they move through life. Others are blissfully unaware or simply don’t care.  We say mean things to break someone down or nice things to lift someone up.  We drive like maniacs, not thinking about the other people that we effect on the road.  Sometimes we are just so consumed with our own thoughts that we miss the person going through a bad time and perhaps in need of a friend. There is nothing wrong with being selfish at times. To be fair sometimes you need to be. 

But then there is the other side of the line.  The thread that ties the universe together and the way your one selfish day effects life at the other end of the line.  Did it cost a life or save one?  Even the most selfless choices can end up causing more harm than good and in some cases – take note NOT ALL, there are selfish motives that drive them. 

We are only ever in control of what we do. I have spent years watching people, listening to them.  How they can tear at those who threaten them and build on those they deem worthy.  How easily they repeat the sins of the past because it’s all they know.  Aren’t we supposed to learn from our mistakes?

We as humans have drifted away from our senses.  At the end of the day, it will all come back to the thread that ties us all together but I have a few points that will make little sense.

A mother will understand the connection she has with her unborn.  And no matter how old that child grows every choice the mother makes effects the child in some way.

But thats familial and close to home and in the beginning of the blogs I talked across continents.  Our day to day interactions seems small but we don’t realise the effect of the warm smile you give a  stranger who passes you by the street. Or the two bucks you lend the person in front of you in the queue at the store. You know you will never it get back but they were short and you were in a rush.  The value of the small thing you did today that made you feel better about yourself.  Or just because you could.  The phone call you make or don’t make.  My philosophy is,   don’t make the choice that seems good today. Make the choice you will be able to live with tomorrow.

And more than that, we are all connected to the earth, as the earth is connected to us.

Every choice we make reflects later on.  My dad says all the weather changes, global warming,  the droughts, and earthquakes are a result of the earth lashing out.  And can you blame her?  And look at the resulting effects. As the heat has been steadily increasing people have been growing more and more aggressive. All this anger, road rage etc is a direct result of our disconnect from the earth. 

I am not saying we should all become tree-huggers.  Heavens no.  but the earth has many ways for us to connect with her.  The ultimate point is to not spend so much time chase material possessions that the soul becomes lost in the process and you lose track of what it is you are doing here. 

If you have a family, a wife and kids they are ultimately the first lives at the other end of your line.  Your first point of connection.  Are you still connected to them?  In rock climbing, you never climb without a b-layer, your anchor.  It is a connection that goes both ways. The ultimate trust and constant communication.

I know nothing of diving but I think divers use a buddy system.  No matter what you do in this life you alway have someone that is trusting you to know what you are doing. 

When you are training a new employee they look up to you and you have to be the example.  There is a line that connects from generation to generation. From one person to the next.

Every written word affects the one that reads it.  Inspires something new. In knowing what we know we cannot afford not to leave behind a legacy that breathes life into the next generation.  That inspires growth. That adds to the human race instead of taking away.

My writing of the Edain series attempts to do just that. In writing about my world and experiences, I hope to reach out to others who find themselves in a similar position. Each of us tries to make sense of the world around us in different ways, and that’s ok, we are, after all, unique.