Well, it's been a while! To be honest, I've been afraid to write for the last fifteen or so months. The division that continues to rip through our world not only breaks my heart, it also silences me in so many situations. The number of times that I have thought about sharing something or writing something and then stopped are too many to count. What if I offend someone? What if I use the wrong word? The what-ifs have been and continue to be lengthy. And then today I thought, what if I'm not alone? What if there are other people sitting in silence - friends, family, loved ones - sitting in silence because of the fear of what-if is stopping them. When I first started sharing my writing, my biggest learning was that, not once, was I ever alone in my experience or feelings - so here goes.
This morning I shared this post, someone else's post about being loving and kind, despite disagreeing and celebrating our differences. Friends, so many of you replied to that story in agreement! Yes - agreement. So many of us felt the same way about existing cohesively while being aware of our differences and even celebrating them. I replied to numerous people and we went back and forth about how this rings so true with us and feels so relevant. If this was you know that you are not alone!
It got me thinking about the current season, this season of emerging. We've all been distancing and sanitizing and consuming content like never before. Somehow, this platform meant to connect people has served to separate and divide. It's become a platform of opinions and rage and commentary that yields to nothing. No thoughts of, is this necessary? is this kind? is this true? is this my business? does my commenting here serve a purpose? It's time we get a handle on this storm that is social media so that it can ripple out while we emerge. It's time we bring things back to a place of understanding and respect. It's time we treat others the way we want to be treated, even if it's not face-to-face. It's time we remember that yelling constantly won't change anyone's opinion - it'll just tire us out.
In a world that's ready for change, we need to remember that the biggest change often comes from the gentlest forces that quietly work away, gathering strength in numbers and repetition. Friends, can we come out of this and do better? Yes, absolutely, yes. But we can't do it alone. We need to emerge together - ready to take time to understand, ready to truly listen, and ready to love everybody always.
Love From,
Maria