After 9/11, many people marveled at the level of community and helpfulness, compassion and connection that emerged in one of the largest cities in the world. After the Asian tsunami, and again after hurricane Katrina, people mobilized to send help and comfort to the victims, and the end result was often a greater feeling of connected community.

For most of us, a true sense of peace can be reached only once we have found how we can contribute to the community that we live in–and for many of us, who Care2 make a difference, this can be the global community. How can we feel connected? Read more:

True peace comes from contributing to community and feeling comfortable with the role we have in it. Even beyond his, many find solace in the sensation–a physical experience in the body–of being connected, not only to others around us, but to an even greater mystery that transcends us. Those who have the good fortune of being connected in this way often feel propelled much beyond a simple well-being. They feel that they draw their energy from what gives meaning to life itself, in good times and in hardships.

Take some time to think about the places and people among whom you feel most “at home” outside of your immediate family, those whose very existence makes the world seem to be a better place to you. This place or group may be a park in your city, or a national forest, a local school, a soup kitchen, a choir, a church or temple, perhaps an animal shelter, or even a salsa dancing group.

Are there any specific goals, beliefs, or philosophies in which you truly believe? Something that you think can make life on our planet better? It could be about literacy, but also about wildlife conservancy, or about feeling closer to the mystery of the universe and the connection of all things.

If you can combine this essential feeling of “at homeness” with ideas that you really believe in, and find an activity or a group that embody both of these, then think of how you can get involved, or how you can contribute by being the person you are, in your own town, within your own means.

Please share your ways of connecting with the Care2 community. Join the discussion at Annie’s Healthy Living Network discussion on connection.