I had the privilege of hearing a TEDxEast talk a few weeks ago. One of the speakers, Keith Yamashita, gave a wonderful talk called The Other Side of Separation. His talk was about loss and connection. He told the story about his six month old son who needed an operation and how it felt to hand over his son to the anesthesiologist. He spoke about how scared he was about passing his son into the doctors’ hands and the experience of saying good-bye before the surgery.
As Keith said in his talk, “We are always saying good-bye to something or someone. If we can have the belief that just on the other side of separation is connection.” He spoke about the two strong emotions that run through us – Love and Fear.
I resonated with Keith when he said, “Life is what we choose and choice is what connects us. With all of our separation and fear, there is also connection. We become present. Let’s be open-minded to what comes next.”
Loss connects us to what is right in front of us – to the present moment – to who is in our lives. In the deepest moment of loss, there is a gift of connection. Within our deepest fears, there is the gift of love. And in our experiences of separation, there is presence.
One of the gifts I have learned is that life isn’t about what I have or what I have lost. Life is about the people (and relations) you meet along the way. We are all connected.
Feel free to share your stories of loss, separation, and connectedness.
Mary Anne