If you’d rather watch this reflection, the video link is at the bottom of this post.
In 1968, as Apollo 8 circled the moon, astronaut Bill Anders turned his camera back toward home and captured something no one had ever seen before — Earthrise.
For the first time, we saw our planet the way it really is: a small blue-and-white sphere hanging in the darkness of space. No borders. No sides. Just one fragile home, shared by all of us.
That image still stops me in my tracks. It reminds me how connected we truly are — and how easily we forget.
The Illusion of Separation
Somewhere along the way, humanity got tangled up in me versus you and us versus them. We’ve drawn lines around race, religion, politics, and belief — and built walls where there could be bridges.
But from the moon’s distance, those lines disappear. And when we slow down long enough to really see one another, the same thing can happen inside us.
Thích Nhất Hạnh called this truth inter-being — the idea that nothing stands alone. A flower depends on sunlight, rain, soil, and air. We depend on one another in the same quiet, powerful way.
A Shift in My Own Journey
In my own spiritual journey, I’ve learned a lot about those walls. For years, I tried to fit into systems that drew sharp lines between who was “in” and who was “out.” There was always this unspoken rule: if you don’t believe what I believe, you’re wrong.
But deep down, that never sat right with me. Even back then, I couldn’t fully embrace the idea that truth could only live inside one set of walls.
It’s taken time — and a lot of unlearning — to realize that spirituality isn’t about proving who’s right. It’s about waking up to how deeply we’re connected. Different paths, same longing. Different words, same light.
Learning to Remember
For me, this isn’t just a nice idea — it’s a daily practice. It’s catching myself when judgment creeps in and asking, What’s really going on here? It’s noticing how quick I can be to defend “my side” — and how much freedom comes from letting that go.
When I remember that everyone’s carrying something — joy, pain, hope, loss — it softens that hard edge between me and you. And in that softening, compassion finds room to grow.
One Fragile, Beautiful Home
That Earthrise photo keeps teaching me the same lesson: we belong to one another. The air in my lungs today might have been breathed by someone halfway around the world yesterday. The suffering of one person ripples outward, just like kindness does.
When we start to see that — when we live like it matters — we touch peace right in the middle of everyday life.
Because awakening isn’t about rising above the world. It’s about remembering that we’re already part of it — each of us a thread in the same vast, living fabric.
🌍
The circle is never closed.
Watch the Reflection:
Click here to watch “When the Lines Disappear” on Awakening With Don
