Connection with Others

In a world that allows us to be connected 24/7 are you feeling more or less connected with others in your life?

Are your connections with others as you would like them to be? If not, what do you want more of? What does it mean to you to be connected with others?

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs says that after our physiological and safety needs are met, next is meeting our need for love and belonging. I believe he was saying we have a universal need for connection with others because we cannot find love and belonging (what I consider to be intimacy) if we don’t connect with others.

To me, connection is the foundation for sharing intimacy with another. Whether considering my relationship with my husband, my father, my mother, my children, my sister & her family, girlfriends, male friends, neighbors, co-workers, clients or general acquaintances, I am confident that my depth on connection in each of these relationships is rooted in how I show up. I believe I am in a place of CHOICE for how and where I have connection and intimacy in my life.

How do I choose where I create connection with others?

First, to be in a place of choice I believe we need to know who we are. We actually need to be connected to our true selves. To know what are passions are, to know what are fears are, to know what holds us back and to accept ourselves for who we are and what we are not. Next we need to be willing to share our true selves with others – to share who we are without worry of judgment or assumptions or expectations. We also need to create a space where others are equally inclined to share their true selves because they know that you too will come without judgment, assumptions or expectations. It is from this safe space that true connections are created, that intimacy is fostered and that our needs for love and belonging are met.