Session 4: The Energetics of Relationships

I originally planned this is be a series of three webinars, but I realized that the series wouldn't be complete if I didn't talk about how energetics applies to relationships. This is has been one of the most important applications of energetics for me. Relationships are the application of energetics I've previously labeled stacking. It's seeing how one thing relates to other things as part of a greater whole.

As human beings, we may have the illusion that we are separated from other people and nature, but we are not. As the poet John Donne wrote:

No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.

Think about it for a moment. Everything that allows you to eat, clothe yourself, have a place to live, and otherwise sustain your current existence is dependent on other people. So, just as the different cells, organs, and systems of the body are interdependent, humanity is interdependent. We are all part of the greater whole called humanity.

It is people’s inability to see this interconnectedness that causes them to believe they can mistreat others and have it not affect them. The health of our relationships and how we choose to treat others affects our health, too, I’ve seen many instances where the difficulties a person was having in their relationships was a primary causal factor in that person’s health problems.

But, our part of the greater whole does not end with the interconnectedness of the body of humanity. We are also part of the environment. We do not exist apart from the plants and animals who inhabit the earth. We also do not exist apart from the water, the air, and the land. We are part of everything we see, and cannot live without these things any more than our heart can live without our stomach or our brain can live without our liver.

Native Americans understood this far better than we do. As Chief Seattle said, “All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.” He also warned, “Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.” A major cause of the health problems we experience in modern society comes from our disregard for other living things, from the way we raise animals and plants for food, to the way we destroy and pollute the environment.

So, I decided I needed to add this session so we can talk about how energetics helps us understand (and heal) our relationships. Remember that to heal is to "make whole" so when we put ourselves in right relationship with others and with our planet we are healing those relationships by restoring unity and harmony where there was once separation and conflict. This is an especially important application of energetics considering the situations we see in our world today.