Why do we connect? Even if I'm a social person, sometimes I can't always find the right words, or I need some alone time, but that doesn’t mean I can forever go without connection. My connection with others is not only for social or surface-level friendships but instead a way for me to grow and share who I am authentically.
Connecting with anything is forming a deep and meaningful relationship with people, a community, and a purpose. True connection requires more than physical presence, and that’s what Kavanah is: it is a shared intention or a deep purpose. When we act with intention it allows us to really dig deep to form a real tie with someone, someone who we can talk to about anything knowing they won’t judge, someone with that you know our thoughts will align with, someone that you can be aware that actions you take can have an affect on them, even if you don’t want to. Kavanah helps encourage people to act with sincerity, building trust and allowing them to have a real, raw connection with someone else.
I’ve had many experiences where I become self-aware and easily self-sabotage a relationship with someone if one thing goes wrong. “Why am I doing this?” I ask myself, I can easily get mad and blame it on the other person, but I know that I need them; having other people there is a support system that everybody needs. This focus easily pulls me back into reality. My intention is not to push away but to shift me from an automatic behavior to a conscious choice that reconnects me with what I stand for and who I need to help myself.
Connection is such a great way to gain social interaction, but it’s also a way for you to support yourself. With all of my friends and family and the ability to share, to cry, and to laugh with all the same people is such a special bond that everyone needs to cherish because you do not know how amazing it is until you need it and you know they are there for you, whenever you need.
Sydney Sirota is a BBG from Halom BBG #1240, Evergreen Region, and she loves Canva
All views expressed on content written for The Shofar represent the opinions and thoughts of the individual authors. The author biography represents the author at the time in which they were in BBYO.