Sometimes it feels like our world is flying apart...especially with a crazy election season magnifying the real tensions that threaten our communal life. But as brain scientists in the last 20 years have shown us, our brains are hard-wired for connection with human beings. This recent scientific evidence only reinforces the ancient wisdom that many of our cultural traditions have held for centuries: that people do better when connected to others in significant ways.
Listen below, or review Leah's outline, as she begins our fall series pondering the power of connection (to one another, to ourselves, and to God), and the problems that arise when we're disconnected. Also check out this video from the end of the teaching, that reminds us of the possibilities that can open up when we choose to open ourselves to another and choose connection.
It's All About Connection
Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho was homeless in São Paulo, Brazil, for nearly 35 years, and became locally known for sitting in the same spot and writing every day. In April 2011, he was befriended by a young woman named Shalla Monteiro. Impressed by his poetry and wanting to help him with his dream of publishing a book, she created a Facebook Page to feature Raimundo’s writing. Neither could have expected what happened next.
See more about Raimundo and his poetry on his Facebook Page maintained by Shalla: facebook.com/ocondicionado
This short film uses footage from a documentary about Raimundo shot in São Paulo in 2011 and 2012, along with interviews and scenes filmed in Goîana, Brazil, in January 2014.
This is one of 10 stories celebrating Facebook's 10th anniversary and a decade of connections made possible through the platform. See the rest at facebookstories.com/10
Credits
Presented by Facebook Stories
Production Studio - Already Alive
Director - Michael Marantz
Director of Photography - Tim Sessler
Producer - Jason Oppliger
Post Producer - Drew English
Original Music - Michael Marantz
Edit - Michael Marantz
Assistant Edit - Drew English
Local Brazil Producer - William Guimaraes
Local Brazil Production Company - Southside Productions
Footage of Raimundo at The Island by Tiago Venturi
Special Thanks to:
Shalla Monteiro
Raimundo and his family