Watch any Hollywood movie, and the story of separation and reunion between two lovers unfolds, normally with a wonderful ending in a loving embrace. But why do we believe so strongly in this story and why does it pull on our heart strings in a such a powerful way?

The answer is not what you might have been taught to think. As human beings, we all fundamentally believe in separation. That’s the core issue.

We have been taught that we are all beings living on this planet in separation, that it is essentially every man and woman for themselves, with some semblance of family and community connection.

This is because, when we are born onto the Earth, we are intentionally given
amnesia, preventing most of us from being aware of what we are, and where we have come from – our souls chose this challenge for us, wanting us to take on the task of rediscovering our truth as universal beings, and coming home to our true selves.

As we grow up, we then absorb and accept the normal misconception that we are all separate from each other and from the rest of the universe. It normally takes wise parents to prevent this belief from taking root within our psyches.

At its ultimate projection, many of us are taught, by word or assumption, that we are alone in the universe, and that God has abandoned us, and sent us to die on this rock in space. Essentially, we doubt our eternal realities, for we are not collectively sure of this truth.

Is it any wonder that separation consciousness is the typical state of understanding on Earth? And that this ignorance leads us to an over-arching belief in the inevitability of separation, which we then project and attract, over and over again?

When separation is our normal mindset, of course the lives that we create can’t help but be full of circumstances that reflect this core and common belief structure!

But for union and reunion to become the key inspiration we believe in and live by, we need to move to unity consciousness as our accepted state of awareness, and we need to do the inner work needed to bring our hearts, minds, bodies and spiritual energies into alignment, such that together they are natural in their expression with each other.

Union must start within us first, so that it can ripple out into the world that we inhabit.
But instead of understanding that any relationship issues we are experiencing have been being brought forth for both parties to learn more about themselves, and to grow through the issues being manifested, we often walk away or quit without due effort to resolve the problems.

This arises because separation is our conditioned mindset, and we are ignorant of the gift that relationship challenges represent, being a kind of magic mirror held up for both parties to witness their own inner truths. Instead, we smash the mirror to protect our egos from blame!

If we were more aware of and listened to our loving hearts, they would always urge us to take a more constructive path to knowing ourselves more fully and investigate with wonder what the magic mirror can reflect within us, for us to see.

So next time you face separation in your life, or you are beating yourself up because you have been through some kind of relationship break-down, why not look at this experience from a new and different perspective. See the gift in it and learn from it, for once you do, self-forgiveness can flow back into your life.

Let’s start believing in union not separation; firstly within ourselves and then with others.

If this perspective resonates with you, explore these ideas more deeply in Mark’s latest book, The Truth on Love — a guide to healing separation and rediscovering union, from the inside out.