Sometimes I am shocked by what I see. I am re-reading The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, and even though this will make the third time I’ve read the book, these words flew off the page and landed on my heart in a way that felt I’d never seen them before:

“The soul of the world is nourished by people’s happiness and also unhappiness, envy, and jealousy.”

Oh my goodness.

What if my little ‘ole life, being lived out here in rural North Carolina, truly had the power to effect the energy of the larger world?

That’s a big question. But not too big to shy away from, so stay with me please.

What if the way you are showing up in the world – your purposefulness, your integrity, your joy and your happiness – is the birthplace for more of the same for yourself and the people around you?

What if the way you are showing up in the world – your fears, your judgments, your anger, your unhappiness – is the birthplace for more of the same for yourself and the people around you?

It is.

Your energy gets transmitted from you and lands on everything and everybody around you . . . Your present-moment energy becomes the nourishment for the future-energy that will produced.

Holy moly.

You and I are seriously doing a number on the world we live in! We’re creating it! (breathe that in for a moment)

In Oprah’s final show, she shared the story of brain scientist, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, who had suffered a stroke in the left side of her brain that left her unable to use language and logic to experience her world. As Dr. Taylor lay in her hospital bed, she became intensely aware of how the energy of the people around her made her feel. Remarkably, based on nothing but the energy of the doctors and nurses as they entered her room, Dr. Taylor was able to tell who was respectful, kind, truly plugged-in, and who would help in her healing and who would not. She experienced the full power of just how much the energy we bring into our worlds impacts everything.

That’s powerful.

Dr. Taylor is doing well today and based on her experiences, she talks a lot about the importance of each of us taking responsibility for the energy we bring with us wherever we go. In fact, she authored the quote: “Please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space,” which is a sign that Oprah has in her home and in her office. Perhaps we all need to hang a copy or two of that sign in the places we go?

Think how you are showing up and the energy you are bringing into the world doesn’t matter?

No way!

Not only does it create your world and all that’s in it, it’s part of what’s happening in the very soul of our shared world.

We are creating our world and we are all energy. And in the words of Miss Celie in The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, “Everything you’ve done to me, already been done to you.”

Now that’s powerful.

What you do next matters . . .