Connection can be thought of as a link formed with something or someone else. If you are linked to something, you cannot affect it without affecting yourself. And this is really the greatest form of safety available on the planet for any living being.
If you are disconnected from something, if you do not perceive that link, it is dangerous. Not only are you isolated; you can do things and say things that cause immense damage and pain to that thing without even noticing. The only way to cope with other people’s disconnection (because it is so painful) is to become disconnected yourself. But then you become part of the problem. You make the world more dangerous and less conducive to the well-being of all life on earth. You will eventually suffer the consequences of disconnecting.
Disconnection is like an addiction. It will make you feel better in the short run but kill you in the long run. For example, a disconnected government official may declare war thinking it will be better in the short term. But in his disconnection, he does not see that the weaponry we are capable of using today could make it so that soon, he will have no country and no people to govern at all.
I will be teaching true connection for the rest of my life. But I have made a decision today. The decision I have made is that I am going to create a Holiday. Get out your calendar because I’m serious about this one and I am asking for your commitment to it. I want to turn my birthday (because connection is the thing I most want to see in this world), June 16th into International Connection Day.
So many holidays seek to be about connection. Thanksgiving and Christmas are good examples of this. But as we all know too well, Christmas becomes a reminder of how much we don’t have family. We end up watching a football game or showing up to a party because we feel obligated. The central piece of the meal is either a goose or turkey, which means we have to disconnect from that species for our own pleasure. And the list goes on. No more painful holidays. I want this day to genuinely be entirely about connection. I am going to list some of the traditions that I suggest carrying out on this day. From there, I want people to create their own traditions centered around connection:
1. A potluck style meal, where each person contributes their creation or contribution to the collective meal is to be served preferably at 11:00 am. On this day, there will be no animal products consumed by any person. The traditional foods for this day are foods that represent connection such as braided breads, circular shaped foods or foods displayed in a circular manner. And foods that incorporate two distinct colors or cultures together.
2. Gathering together is a tradition on this day. There will be one very large annual gathering (where all people are invited to the celebration regardless of whether they consider themselves to be Teal Tribers or not) on this day somewhere in the world. And if you can’t make it to that one, to gather into smaller groups to practice togetherness.
3. Games and processes will be done as a group and/or in pairs on that day that enhance connection. Any practice that enhances connection can be observed on this day.
4. The color of the holiday is Teal (blue green) and Gold. If other colors are used, let them be those that are the combination of primary colors such as purple, gray, orange and green.
5. During the year, each person, family or community is to keep a weekly happiness jar. Each week, each person writes down the thing(s) that made them the most happy that week. On this day, the entire collection is to be burnt so the smoke can be symbolic of the items being sent back to the universe at large in gratitude and with a request for there to be more of those things in the coming year.
6. On this day, one of the traditions is a 22 minute silent ‘connection line’ walk, where each person in attendance will link a hand to form a line where each person is holding a hand of the person in front of them and behind them. They walk at a slow pace in silence, feeling the connection between them and feeling that where one goes, all go. At the end of the 22 minutes, all participants form a circle where the person at the end of the line is now connected to the person at the beginning of the line. And for 6 minutes, all participants use the energy of that connectivity to set the intention for interconnectedness around the world.
-Teal Swan
To help celebrate and show support for International Connection Day, we have released a collection of limited edition Merch that contains our holiday designs of 2019! We look forward to having new designs each year, so take advantage of these exclusive designs while they are available:
We have a variety of holiday merchandise ranging from: T-Shirts with the Holiday Logo for 2019, parchment designs that list out all of the activities that take place every June 16th, and also a border print in the frequency of Human Intimacy!
*Special offer: Order $35 or more of International Connection Day Merch pre-shipping & receive a FREE copy of Teal's audiobook The Connection Process ($8.99 value) -OR- if you already have the book, a $5 Teal Swan Shop e-gift card!
Simply email your order confirmation to sales@tealswan.com and mention which gift you would like. Promotion valid on qualifying orders from May 29th, 2019 through June 16th, 2019!
We can't wait to hear all about your connection day! Now is the time to organize an event with your friends, family, and local community.
Thank you so much for your love and support & we wish you happy connecting!
Love always,
