The Pattern That Connects

"Premonitions open us up to each other and to the greater world... they show that we are part of something larger than the individual self, that we are an element in the great pattern that connects." Dr. Larry Dossey

The opening story of Malcolm Gladwell's Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking should convince even the most skeptical that there are ways of knowing beyond the ability to make logical connections:

"A team of experts with state-of-the-art measurement tools took more than a year to assure the authenticity of a supposedly ancient Greek statue the Getty Museum of California was going to purchase for $10 million. Then several art experts looked at the statue and knew instantly it was a fake. One said he "heard" the word fresh, which seemed odd to him, but on further examination he realized the statue was too "fresh" to be that ancient." (David Brooks, New York Times).

We all have the capability to access these versions of a "sixth sense" although many shy away from that possibility, especially those who fear the unfamiliar. Even the word premonition carries an aura of foreboding - that something "bad" is going to happen.

When we're fully present, however, the possibilities are neither good nor bad, we're simply open to a broader context of knowing, a larger "mind" or "field." Whether you experience this knowing as a feeling in your bones, an image, or a nagging thought, it's saying to you, in Larry Dossey's words, "Wake up. The evidence for a larger world is staring you in the face."

The Beauty Way

In Be Careful What You Pray For... You Just Might Get It, Dr. Larry Dossey describes the Navajo belief in the power of words, the importance of thinking and speaking in a positive way – in "the Beauty Way."

Counter this with how easily caretakers can affect a patient's recovery with such hexes as, "Only 2% of people with this kind of cancer survive more than a year."

Of course, doctors don't intend to do us in. Nonetheless, the harm can be real: "Medical curses such as 'It's your funeral,'" Dossey writes, "'You're a walking time bomb,' 'You should have had surgery yesterday,' 'There's nothing more I can do,' and so on, are not uncommon." 

In contrast, Dr. Thomas Oxman and colleagues at Dartmouth Medical School found that the factor most highly correlated with survival and a positive post-operative course after surgery was the degree of spiritual meaning in the patient's life. 

Our Beauty Way answers these questions: 

"How will I participate in my recovery and not be a victim?"

"What is my purpose?"

"What is meaningful to me?"

"How might I make a difference in the world?"