All We Have in Common

Together on Earth
Seeing The Bigger Picture

by Madisyn Taylor

We have created imaginary boundaries, sectioning ourselves into countries and states, forgetting that in reality we are all living together.

Seeing an image of the planet Earth taken from space inspires awe in many of us, since we can clearly see the connectedness of all of us who live upon this planet. We have created imaginary boundaries, sectioning ourselves into countries and states, forgetting that in reality we are all living together, breathing the same air, drinking from the same water, eating food grown from the same earth. We share everything on this planet, whether we are conscious of it or not,
with other people, and those people are our brothers and sisters. Keeping a photograph or painting of the planet Earth in a prominent place in our homes can be a positive way to remember our interconnectedness. 

Meditating on the fact that any sense of separation we have from one another is truly an illusion,

Travel with Eyes, Mind & Heart Wide Open

A Citizen of the World
Vacations

by Madisyn Taylor

An aware traveler sees each new journey as an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of humanity.
As the technology of travel grows ever more refined, the world grows smaller. Whereas a journey of a hundred miles once took many days, we can now travel across the globe in mere hours. The four corners of the earth are accessible by plane, train, and ship, and there are few pleasures in life as soul-stirring and transformative as travel. In a new land, the simplest of joys can be profound—meditation takes on a new quality because the energy in which we are immersed is unfamiliar. Our sensory experiences are entirely novel. Yet the relative ease with which we can step out of our own culture in order to explore another means that we are ambassadors representing not only our own way of life but also the culture of the traveler. As a conscious citizen of the world, you can add value to the locales you visit while simultaneously broadening your own perspective.

"School's Out on Ambergris Caye" and several boys wanted their picture

 taken to celebrate the occasion. It was a spontaneous moment which

 I thoroughly enjoyed sharing with these happy citizens of the world.