As we close one year and begin another, I find my attention drawn to the feeling of oneness. When I work with a person and a horse, a sense of connection is always clear to me—even when it may seem to the person I’m working with that there is a disconnection between them and the horse. However, I can see that, regardless of appearances, the horse is always connected to the human in the space.
What might look like disconnection often takes the form of a horse gazing out over the horizon instead of focusing on the person or trying to reach the grass just outside the round pen. In these moments, the person often says the horse is “disconnected” from them. But from my experience, I know the horse is deeply connected to the human. If the person reconnects with their own truth, the horse will stop grazing or looking away and, in an instant, turn and walk toward them. The disconnection is never between the horse and the person; it’s the person who is disconnected from their truest self.
Just as with the horse, that deepest part of ourselves isn’t lost or uninterested—it’s always there. And when the person reconnects with that inner knowing, everything aligns again, and the horse reflects the shift. What might look like disconnection is, in fact, a lack of awareness of something much deeper—an experience of oneness.
So, what does this teach me about human relationships? We may appear disconnected at times, with our different opinions and worldviews creating a vast space between us. But, just as with horses, the connection is always there, waiting to be felt. We are deeply connected. As I often say, being human is hard—it’s exhausting and painful at times. Only another human can truly understand that. When people share their sense of disconnection, I listen, but I also hold an awareness of the oneness that’s present when we look more deeply.
As we step into this next year, I am holding an awareness of unity in my heart. I want to stay so close to my deepest self that I can feel when someone else shifts into their inner knowing and reflect that back to them. For a horse, this might be easy, but for me, it’s a practice—one I’m excited to continue.