The world feels heavy. Every corner I turn, it’s there. So much pain: are we being asked to grieve, to weep, or to carry it? 

Even the feel-good movie, Ted Lasso, held pain. It didn’t ignore it. It did not ignore our flaws, eccentricities, keen differences, vulnerabilities, or our quest for romantic love and connection. By not bypassing pain, and longing, Ted Lasso celebrated our humanity, our hearts, our differences, our desires to be whole and accepted, our desire to be good at the very core of our beings, our desire to be loved for who we are, and never to stop trying to be our absolute best selves. 

That quest is not a straight line. It is actually a wild ride. How do we do it in this world full of killing, guns, hate, racism, antisemitism, and terrorism? The only answer I can find is: with the quest for peace, kindness, empathy, and love.

So, I ask myself, how do I show up? How do I navigate the hidden fears created by the energetic zeitgeist of unease? 

I think it’s to state it, to honor the pain, and do the work. We can grieve the pain, weep for it, but it’s not ours to hold. It is ours to be the light. To offer a healing path to those who can hear and resonate with our message and words. 

Forgiveness is the path forward. First of yourself. Do not judge or loathe yourself or blame yourself for not being perfect. Then compassion for all humans. We have no idea what’s rolling around in anyone’s head. What they were taught, how they were conditioned, or what trauma is stored in their body.

Acts of kindness. A smile. Eye to Eye connection. A hug. A beam of love from your heart to theirs. To catch yourself in judgment and stop it. Turn it into curiosity. Turn it into ascension, ascending from judgment to compassion on the path to find a glimmer of the divine spark within yourself.

Make it your choice to be kind. To be curious. 

I am asking myself to step up and show up — stare the ugly hate in the face. Feel the feelings. Stand in the fire of confusion, of disbelief, of chaos, but not linger there because I know that love is the only path forward.