The other day I was on the road returning home by bus, after a long journey. As I surveyed the landscape outside, I had all the time in the world to ponder any thoughts that arose. I invite you to come with me on this journey.
It was early in the day and the sun was bright, which filled made everything with vitality. The interior of the bus was cool, the seats were reclining, and we were very comfortable. We, the passengers, were protected from the heat that assailed us whenever we embarked for a break; the hot steam of the day causing a certain sluggishness, and a slight dizziness.
That made me realize that we were enclosed inside the vehicle, surrounded by steel and glass, which allowed us to see the outside world, but not really engage with what was happening beyond the walls of the bus. In a way, it protected us, but also isolated us.
At a given moment, I stopped contemplating the landscape and tried to interact with friends on my smartphone. This distracted me a lot, I didn’t even notice the time pass, and when we stopped for lunch, I realized just how many hours had passed.
When I got off the bus, the heat left me in shock. Leaving that comfort and protection was very challenging, even though I was hungry. While waiting for my order, a thought came to me: I was inside a bus with several passengers, each one immersed in their own world: their cell phones, browsing social networks, and interacting with people outside. In addition to being shielded from the heat, we were shielded from each other, shielded from real engagement.
What separated us inside that vehicle?
Was it our habits?
I perceived, as clearly as a ray of light from that burning sun, that each one of us was isolated in their own little world, their sphere of life, as if inside a bubble. It was then that I had a vision of several living bubbles, each human being surrounded by his own sphere, and wherever he moved, he remained isolated from other beings, in the illusion of protection. I was very disturbed by that feeling… my lunch arrived; I went to sit down.
From that moment on, everything seems to have changed around me. I watched everything and everyone, noticing now that there seemed to be a protective membrane enveloping me completely. I could watch people, they didn’t even notice my presence, busy all the time with their cell phones, or simply with their private thoughts. I felt invisible and it was an interesting experience.
I am young; 26 years old and I keep trying to imagine what the world was like before all this.
Have people always lived so isolated within themselves?
I looked outside again, for I needed to feel something different; I looked at the scenery, the plants and the animals that were there – a simple place, in the middle of the Paraíba State hinterland. The vegetation was luscious and uncultivated, everything seemed very naturally “disorganized”, a chaos in total harmony.
I immersed myself in the scene, felt the sun burn on my skin, tasted the characteristic smells: a mixture of the perfume of flowers, the aroma of spices and food, the odor of animals that grazed in the grass … I took a deep breath. I remained still for a few minutes that seemed like forever, because I felt so intensely present.
We returned to the bus and my imagination was running wild.
I imagined that a membrane enveloped each one of us, and that these had ‘sensors’ that identified types as similar or different. Isolated bubbles, inside bigger bubbles, in movement, which in turn, were inside the big bubble of planet Earth.
Why do we only want to talk to people who think like us?
Why does difference bother us?
I let that thought go, and followed another one which took me to the first bubble I belonged to, the fertilized egg, even before I became an embryo. The amniotic sac that surrounds the developing embryo in the mother’s womb provides a space in which to develop freely and helps protect the embryo from injury. The womb is a bubble that protects and isolates that germ of life at the beginning of its journey: there is a foundation, a development and strengthening of a living being!
We are born when we reach full development, and then our connection and relationship with our mother changes completely. We breathe a new atmosphere, open our eyes, and see, for the first time, the loving eyes of our mother who now stares directly at us, and welcomes us…
When we break the bubble, we are welcomed into a new world.
I thought of my mother and the mother of us all, Mother Earth. The biggest bubble, inside which we all fit.
How to get out of the isolation bubble and enter a new world, a real world?
Would that thought be plausible or just a fantasy of these times so rich in imagination?
It seems as if something from within is pushing me, provoking me, as if it were a fire that burned in my chest and broke all constraints. I look for eyes that transmit this feeling so that we can walk together in search of this atmosphere. I feel that there is a place of rupture inside my being, where a new force is asserting itself and pushing me towards a new development.
It’s as if I am a ripe fruit, ready to break the shell and leave seeds in the ground to germinate.
Our bodily cells could be seen as small bubbles which surround a nucleus. One cell does not live in isolation without the other. When a cell gets sick, the whole body goes into action to restore the previous healthy condition. Cells work together in solidarity. If the healthy cells win, the body heals itself, otherwise the whole body becomes sick.
My bus arrives at my destination. This trip has been worth gold for me; I have traveled an intense and deep journey within myself. I arrive in my homeland full of strength, ready to search for an answer to how to get out of the bubble and find my fellow travelers. I don’t know what the path is yet, I just feel that I will find it. I feel an enormous desire to move, to walk, to dance, to jump, to hug, to sing and to talk. This seems to me a possible life outside the bubble.
I hope that you, the reader, who embarked with me, enjoyed the journey.
REFERENCES:
LECTORIUM ROSICRUCIANUM. Outer Chaos, Inner Awakening, p. 147. Jarinu, SP, Pentagrama Publicações, 2021