World Unity Week: Celebrating the Shift From “Me” to “We”
What unusual thing have you done during the global “pause” of the pandemic when faced with “the new normal”? Some people have tried to learn a new language, others have immersed themselves in DIY, home baking, YouTube workouts or have just got better at working remotely. But in parallel, many people around the world have been reflecting on the tangible sense of togetherness and interconnection that is uniting us at this time.
It has become clear, even when we’re separated, just how connected we all are. There’s a tangible empathy for essential workers, and also our fellow humans in general. Most of us can sense a kindness vibe that’s getting us all through this current pandemic as communities rediscover their abilities to find local solutions to bigger challenges. This sees strangers turning into real neighbors and reaching out to the most vulnerable, for instance. In parallel, many people have downgraded their interests in material consumption and embarked on a more self-aware spiritual quest to relate differently to others, reaching out and feeling a deeper connection with other people in the world around them.
It is this connection, in all its richness, that World Unity Week wants to tap into and expand. It is doing this through an eight-day virtual focus on coming together to celebrate unity born out of respect for diversity and our planet. This event is intended as a space in which to salute the unifying sense of humanity so many of us feel, the real spiritual awakening in people, and the growing compassion around us.
World Unity Week has been convened by over 70 civil society organizations from around the world. Its website describes it as “8 powerful days of events, performances and conversations as 1000s gather to forge a new path for humanity.” But organizers want everyone to know that this isn’t just about experts on a stage. Anyone can join or even host a session.
Let’s honour our #unity in #diversity and create a whole new world …together!
World Unity Week is an online on-life 8 day adventure that is free to join. Sign up here and gather from the 20th – 27th June.https://t.co/fFm41E2rHF#worldunityweek #global #beyondhumanstories pic.twitter.com/4hULgyG3NH
— Beyond Human Stories (@beyondHstories) June 15, 2020
This week-long event is launching on June 21, the date of the mid-year solstice; summer in the northern hemisphere, and winter in the south. For centuries, this has been a time of connection to nature, and our place in the cosmos.
Highlights of the week include a celebration of the UN’s International Day of Yoga, a World UNITY Water Day paying tribute to this element as a source of life, and a celebration of the 20th anniversary of a key interfaith initiative through a worldwide blessing for peace. The week will conclude with a commemoration of the UN’s 75th anniversary.
Key conversations during World Unity Week will spotlight topics such as collective climate action, partnerships for peace, global governance, interfaith harmony, sustainable and regenerative development, the role of business and economics, human rights, and other key elements of a new kind of future that so many caring actors in society are striving to create. You can register for events here.
We can’t deny that World Unity Week’s “call to action”, explained so simply in our video, is inspiring: “The “Global Pause” caused by the pandemic is uniting the world in new ways. Our opportunity to foster a genuine movement towards global unity has never been greater. Join us in the quest to co-create the new story and a more beautiful future for our shared home, Planet Earth and all those who inhabit it.”
