What Lies Between Us?

If you place two living heart cells from different people in Petrie dish, they will in time find and maintain a third and common beat. - Molly Vass

This biological fact holds the secret of all relationships. The inborn ability to find and enliven a common beat is the miracle of love. This force is what makes compassion possible, for if two cells can find the common pulse beneath everything, how much more can full hearts feel when all excuses fall away?

This drive towards connection with each other lies beneath passion and curiosity. It feels incredibly uplifting that without even knowing each other, there exists a common beat between all hearts, just waiting to be felt. Perhaps this is the secret:

that everytime we dare to voice what beats within, we invite some other cell of heart to find what lives between us and sing.

Here’s a daily invitation:

Breathe deeply in silence and feel the beat of your heart.

Meditate on the common beat the cells of your heart carry.

Let this beat sound like a beacon from you. As you enter your day, keep sending the beat of your heart to everything around you. Do this with your regular breathing.

Be aware of the moments you feel energized or filled with emotion. It is in the life of these moments that you are in full relationship with the world.

An excerpt from Mark Nepo’s The Book of Awakening.