Have you ever noticed that the more you pay attention to something, the more it expands. From everything to getting a type of car, dog or style of clothes – once you’ve embodied it you then see it everywhere. Or was it always there to begin with?

It’s amazing what one can see when they are open their eyes to what it is they want to see.

As I’ve turned to the depths of my heart, all I can see and feel is a deep sense of interconnectedness. And because my focus has turned to connectedness, compassion and community, my friend Donna Mazzitelli passed along this amazing story, in which I’ll share with you here. It touched me greatly. This is my vision – a world in which we are always considering the whole and our interconnectedness.

‎“An anthropologist studying the habits and customs of an African tribe found himself surrounded by children most days. So he decided to play a little game with them. He managed to get candy from the nearest town and put it all in a decorated basket, at the foot of a tree.

Then he called the children and suggested they play the game. When the anthropologist said “now”, the children had to run to the tree and the first one to get there could have all the candy to him/herself.

So the children all lined up waiting for the signal. When the anthropologist said “now”, all of the children took each other by the hand ran together towards the tree. They all arrived at the same time divided up the candy, sat down and began to happily munch away.

The anthropologist went over to them and asked why they had all run together when any one of them could have had the candy all to themselves.

The children responded: “Ubuntu. How could any one of us be happy if all the others were sad?”

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Ubuntu is a philosophy of African tribes that can be summed up as “I am what I am because of who we all are.”

Bishop Desmond Tutu gave this explanation in 2008 :

“One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.”

Originally Seen on: The Universal One

I now leave with you with this quote…

“One day you will ask me which is more important? My life or yours? I will say mine and you will walk away not knowing that you are my life.” ― Kahlil Gibran

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this story and ubuntu…

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If this type of story, interconnectedness and spirit of community speaks to you – be sure to join us for the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium on 5/11.