Connection is a deep root that taps the source from which well being is drawn.

Connection to oneself – having a healthy relationship with our experience of life – is essential in this. Also, we do not live in isolation either. For all but the hermits among us, we live in relationship to other people. Dislocation from others when not chosen can lead to much sadness, and even distress.

The 12 invitations that follow are for those seeking to explore relationship with a a greater degree of intimacy.

Most of the exercises will benefit from the other person knowing the plan so that they can join in too, so that is clearly worth bearing in mind when choosing who to share them with.

As ever. Stay safe & have fun!

1. Have an Adventure

The line between adventure and misadventure is very thin. Be aware of this when the time comes to choose your adventure together. The negotiation of what to do may reveal as much about the other person as going on an actual adventure with them. An unplanned trip to an unknown destination. Randomly selected by tossing a coin or sticking a pin in a map. Exploring a new place. Dress up in clothes you never wear and go somewhere you alway go.

2. Make Food

Prepare, cook, and eat a meal with someone.

3. Converse with a Stranger

Start a conversation with someone you do not know. Go as deep or as shallow as you sense is right and good to do so at the time. If you want to take it one step further converse with someone who is unlike you in significant ways – maybe try to find what you have in common, or just seek ways to appreciate your differences.

4. Show Care for Someone

This can cover a range of virtues. Essentially, just as the title suggests, show care for someone. Someone you know or a stranger. Find where there is sympathy or compassion in you and then exercise it.

Alternatively, pay someone a genuine compliment for the sake of paying them a compliment. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to speak the truth of it in the moment it comes to mind. Often hesitation can kill the moment. Don’t expect anything at all in return. That is what the gift of a compliment is – a gift. You give it. Maybe then just let go of it. Smile and leave.

5. Dance

Dance with someone. Someone you love, or someone you have only just met. It does not need to be cheek to cheek, it could be in an isle at the supermarket – or in the street – or a park – or through a field of wild flowers. Just one or two moves is enough if you are unsure. It’s doesn’t have to be excessive – just a moment can be enough to get a sense of things.

6. Have ‘That’ Conversation

Have a conversation that you have been putting off. Yes, it has to feel like the right time. And then, sometimes, there are some conversations for which it never seems to be the right time. If it is one of those conversations, one of the ones you have been putting off, then maybe this is the right time?

7. Go on a Date

Ask someone out on a date. Cinema, walk, picnic, meal, shopping, paint balling, waterslides, dancing, painting, go karting, flower arranging, bowling, kayaking, bike ride, festival, board game, face painting, video games, historic site, museum, cave diving, kite flying, stargazing, ice cream, birdwatching, beach, swim, roller skating, pool, garden centre, you get the idea.

8. Make Love

Open yourself fully to the feeling of being present with someone you love. Allow them to do the same with you. Stay present with the present and allow it to be just as it will be. Allow yourself to be yourself. Allow the other person to be themselves too.

If you are unsure of where to begin just sit together. Let your eyes rest on the eyes of the other and breath together at the same rate. Just feel the love you feel and follow your instincts. Go from there.

9. Travel

Travel with someone. Simple. Go on journey that lasts longer than a day.

10. Teach Someone

Teach somebody something that they want to learn. If not, if you don’t feel like you have anything to teach, allow someone to teach you something that you want to learn.

11. Participate in a Group

Understanding how you relate to groups will show up a great deal about yourself and about others, whether you feel forced to take the lead, to sit back and observe or to play the middle ground. Groups are often variations of the social structures of the wider world. Join a class perhaps.

12. Reunite

Knowing what something is, what it means, how we value it, is often defined as much through our separation from it as its presence. The invitation here is to either, spend some time apart from someone close, or reconnect with someone you haven’t seen for a long time. How do you feel in both places? How does it feel to reunite?

Got your own ideas or experiences? Care to share them? We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to add it all to the comments section below.

Part One: Introduction

Part Two: The World

Part Four: Yourself

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