During the past couple of weeks I’ve had a malaise I couldn’t quite identify, a feeling of being less grounded than usual.
Before I realized where it was coming from, I check with family and friends; they too had been experiencing an uneasiness they couldn’t explain.
The earthquake and tsunami in Japan have led to a huge loss of human life. We’ve all been glued to our televisions as the news has unfolded. Put whatever label on it you want, but the catastrophic events in Japan have been leaving a lot of us feeling ungrounded.
As I reflect on my own sense of being ungrounded, I recall having being there before. I had that same feeling following the 2006 tsunami swamping Southeast Asia and the 2010 earthquake devastating Haiti.
There is a lot of modern thought about how all of us human beings are interconnected energetically. It comes out of quantum physics, psychology, spiritual disciplines and elsewhere. But most of the time you are not conscious of your connectedness with others.
Sometimes, however, you are fully conscious of it. If you were deeply connected to another person who then died, you may well have felt as if part of you had died with them. I know that feeling all too well. Anyone who has gone through such loss knows it to be a frighteningly ungrounding experience.
If you live in a small community and have ever experienced a number of people dying in a fire or a boat sinking, you will know how the whole community goes through something similar, leaving everyone feeling ungrounded.
In the devastation of Japan many have died. As a consequence of so many human lives being lost, you may have had moments of feeling a bit like you were slipping away too. Many have this experience.
Remember, you are energetically connected to everyone else. This is where that feeling of being ungrounded comes from.
I am describing something happening energetically, but if that is too hard for you to swallow, think of it at least metaphorically, and stay with me for a moment as I extend the idea.
Perhaps when you experience being ungrounded in the wake of massive death, you are being pulled a little bit out of your normal human connection to the earth into the beyond along with those who actually have passed on. Becoming grounded again is your coming back to earth to continue your human journey.
Whether or not the above speculation makes any sense to you, if something feels wrong inside after such massive loss of life, you would be well served to do something to reground yourself, the first step being to just be aware your connection to the earth is probably weakened.
Then reground yourself using whatever works for you, whether energy tools or walking, whether prayer of rebonding with family.
You can reach Registered Psychologist Dr. Neill Neill for an appointment at 250-752-8684 or through his website www.neillneill.com/contact.