I recently watched a video where a researcher put a credit card into a glass of acetone.  It only took about half an hour for all the plastic to melt away leaving that which had been buried within the card – a whole heap of very fine wire attached to a small computer chip.  The chip by itself can not do the work to pay your bill – it needs the wire.  The wire needs the card reader to provide energy to the chip so that the transaction can take place.  And beyond that is a massive world-wide infrastructure to transport that information which eventually results in your credit card account showing that the transaction took place.

I think of my world as a massive tapestry.  There are threads of all manner of texture: some threads are thick; some are very fine.  Some are knotted up; some are silky smooth.  There is every possible colour represented and it takes every single thread to make up this rich, woven tapestry of life on Earth.  Every living thing has its own thread, not just humans but animals, birds, trees and grass, rocks, and mountains.  Every ocean and every stream.  Everything is connected by these threads to every other aspect of this tapestry.  Just like the wire hidden in your credit card.

When something happens on the internet (as it did for me a few days ago) things can become difficult.  For me, my internet all but disappeared for two days and that left me adrift, wondering what to do.  Not quite a disaster, but close enough to trouble my day-to-day life.  In my tapestry each thread is equally essential and if one of the threads becomes thin, worn out, broken or even just fades away through lack of attention or care, there is a thin spot in the tapestry.  There may even be a hole.  And that means that the energy cannot flow as well as it otherwise could.  And, like my internet service, that can be troublesome.

Your credit card, or your connection to the internet is important to you.  In fact, it’s probably more important – to you – than whatever your friends are experiencing with their internet.  Your thread in the tapestry of life is also more important to you than the threads that represent your friends.  But when an aspect of either system goes down, it doesn’t just affect that small element – the problems can ripple outwards.  But if there is an alternate energy source that can be offered, problems can be reduced and even disappear, leaving the tapestry – or the network – intact.

Here’s a practical example:  I’ve recently moved house.  I’ve moved many times before and it’s never been a problem.  I love moving house, it’s exciting and a way of highlighting a fresh start.  But this time I am older.  I live alone and I have some disabilities to deal with.  My energy reserves were low and though I tried to put a good face onto it, I even thought about pulling my thread out of this tapestry all together.  It was only thoughts, nothing I would act on, but it showed just how thin my miniscule part of the world tapestry was becoming.  But there are people around me, people whose threads are in connection with mine – part of the warp and weft of my life.  And they joined their threads with mine.  They supported me so that I could re-build my thread, strengthen it with a few knots and brightly-coloured ribbons of the energy they gave to me.  Each of these people also have a few thin bits in their threads – in fact every being has these thin bits in their life threads, but by supporting those around us – sharing energy through practical assistance, a few kind words, or even just sitting next to someone who is alone, we can keep this tapestry alive.

The credit card appeared to be trashed after soaking in the glass of acetone, but that was untrue.  The network of energy supporting the wire and the chip still worked, and in the video the presenter was still able to pay for her coffee. 

And I now live in my new home.