As I'm reading this I thought of a deeper meaning of relationship and you did get to it about mid way through. Two takes, one from psychology and one from spirituality.
It's not just about relationships with people. We have a relationship with everything. This will be hard to describe here...but my students had me thinking about this a bit differently....relationship as attitude. Attitudes are made up of thoughts, behavior, and feelings. We have attitudes toward everything we come into contact with some stronger and some softer.
I have always felt a deep connection with Native American and Buddhist beliefs that we are interconnected to everything in the natural world, not separate from it. This always felt very real to me. I grew up observing and interacting with nature along the coast in New Jersey and it just always made sense that we are deeply interconnected with all living things, though we tend to forget this.
I always appreciate the way you think, Eric. And the care you bring to these reflections.
That idea of relationship as attitude definitely resonates. It speaks to something subtle but powerful: that how we hold something determines how we experience it. And often, how it meets us in return. Your students are wise.
There’s also a lot of wisdom in what you shared about Native and Buddhist traditions too. The had it figured out didn't they? That sense of interconnectedness has always felt more true than abstract to me, especially when I'm close to the land, close to silence. It’s a remembering, more than a concept.
And yes, I was quietly pointing to our evolving relationship with technology—how much of it will reflect what we project onto it. Like you said, history hasn’t always shown us at our best when confronted with the unfamiliar. But maybe this time, we'll meet it differently.
Thank you for being here, and for taking the time to engage so thoughtfully. It means a lot 🤘
As I'm reading this I thought of a deeper meaning of relationship and you did get to it about mid way through. Two takes, one from psychology and one from spirituality.
It's not just about relationships with people. We have a relationship with everything. This will be hard to describe here...but my students had me thinking about this a bit differently....relationship as attitude. Attitudes are made up of thoughts, behavior, and feelings. We have attitudes toward everything we come into contact with some stronger and some softer.
I have always felt a deep connection with Native American and Buddhist beliefs that we are interconnected to everything in the natural world, not separate from it. This always felt very real to me. I grew up observing and interacting with nature along the coast in New Jersey and it just always made sense that we are deeply interconnected with all living things, though we tend to forget this.
Thanks Cam!
I always appreciate the way you think, Eric. And the care you bring to these reflections.
That idea of relationship as attitude definitely resonates. It speaks to something subtle but powerful: that how we hold something determines how we experience it. And often, how it meets us in return. Your students are wise.
There’s also a lot of wisdom in what you shared about Native and Buddhist traditions too. The had it figured out didn't they? That sense of interconnectedness has always felt more true than abstract to me, especially when I'm close to the land, close to silence. It’s a remembering, more than a concept.
And yes, I was quietly pointing to our evolving relationship with technology—how much of it will reflect what we project onto it. Like you said, history hasn’t always shown us at our best when confronted with the unfamiliar. But maybe this time, we'll meet it differently.
Thank you for being here, and for taking the time to engage so thoughtfully. It means a lot 🤘