My Mom, Rachel Herrera, passed away in 2012 at the age of 81 six years after fighting cancer of the blood. She was 4ft 10 inches, under 100 1bs, movie star beautiful and tougher than a Navy Seal. I woke up early this morning thinking what she taught me. And the lessons came flooding in.
In his wonderful book, The Art of Living, Thich Nhat Hanh presents a concept called Interbeing.
Interbeing is the thought that we are all a continuation of the world especially our parents. My mother is with me every day, as I wake up and as I go about my life. Whatever I do, wherever I go, she is with me and a part of me.
Not only is no man an island, but rather his interbeing is shared with the plants and animals he eats, the people who make his clothes and food, the people who populate his home, country and the very world he perceives, the insects that pollinate the trees that yield his fruit, shade him from the sun, and provide lumber for his house.
