As we walk this journey together weaving our past experiences and our common respect for humanity into the future, I offer to you support and love in a weary world.
I am not alone in doing this for there are others who are sincere in expressing their empathy in carefully crafted words and actions. Your tribe and your community do care. These are important messages in a time when one feels fear or anxiety. Today we stop to breathe and to refocus.
All that is within us…
We start our journey with taking stock of all that we are capable of – that beautiful inventory within one’s self. The depth and breadth of our ability is profound as is our strength and the exciting part is that we are always free to use and express those gifts in a way that centers us and brings us peace.
My astrological sign is Cancer – the crab. It is so true that I am tough on the outside and very tender inside. My heart will bruise easily and yet I have the strength to carry the weight of a foot print on my back. Deeply compassionate and also fearless in my approach – it makes for a complicated persona and I recognize that as a gift.
Who are you? We are all made perfect and capable. Listen carefully to that inner voice and trust it – for the answers live within us. Be bold in your expression of need and in your vision. You alone know your purpose.
Family and Tribe
There have been many times in history where humans have been driven by a strong collective force to change the world. Individually, we all inside of us, have a desire to make a difference and to walk toward a better place.
Do what you can within your own family or close tribe. What a liberty now to not have to live to expectations or preconceived ideas on how to raise children or define family, love or work. Inhale this freedom to gently support those closest to you in a way that is comfortable; giving them both roots and wings to live their best life.
Communities Drive Change
The bitterness of past divisions in communities, between industries, sectors, borders and religions has softened as we realize that we share one earth and one sky. Within that landscape are tiny prisms of extreme brilliance – these are the small communities in which we live. It is here, in that space that change evolves.
My daughter was compelled to continue to make beautiful floral bouquets all alone in her shop and deliver them to doorsteps even on the coldest of winter days in the depth of a crisis. She did this led by her belief that people need caring, beauty and normality in their lives. It was a thread that knitted her community – businesses and people – together.
The future is in strengthening your ties closer to home. Weaving the strong fabric of your community with another eventually quilts those around you – nurturing new social behavior and forming a stronger foundation in human interaction. In the vastness of this world it is a miracle to be linked to each other.
Small Miracles
Each day we experience small miracles. Life is regenerative and is in a constant state of action – much like the soil that grows our food. There are days when simply surviving is a miracle in itself and others when the appreciation of life is so overwhelming in its bare form – that we celebrate each leaf or paycheck, phone call, business transaction, or meal of rice with deep gratitude.
I rescued a shocked, tiny wild bunny from the mouth of a cat. Each day he received warm goat milk with an eye dropper at midnight and six am, when wild rabbits feed, and then I would gently cradle him on my chest. His heartbeat would slow and he would sleep. When I released him back to the wild I wept in gratitude for the miracle of his life and for the joy in caring for this spirited creature.
It is through the eyes of gratitude that we see life’s miracles. This brings us moments of peace and is a nurturing force in our creative self, opening us to find our center and our success.
A Symbol of Hope
As I write this love letter I too must own my fragility. I miss my tribe and think of the courage shown by my family living in Montreal and those in other hot spots around the world. I hold close to my heart my friends in military lock down unable to leave a hotel room or home since March. I consider those thoughtfully caring for the elderly and infirm and I honor them.
I look at this vast and beautiful world, one I have crossed so many times, and hold its future tenderly as one would a tiny babe in her hand. There is a great unknowing and in our delicate state the question I have been asked repeatedly reverbs in my mind: How will I cope?
Kindly and gently, I remind you that you are at all times a symbol of hope. You may be respected in a child’s eyes, an angel in the crowd or be seen as a leader in your community or business. And though you may never know who you have influenced – you have brought enlightenment and inspired the future of another. You are valued, loved and supported in your individual journey by a universal family. Your being here and your story bring hope to this weary world.
We are collectively joined by a ribbon of family and a community of kindness. How honored I am to walk with you and to experience the small miracles and tender mercies in this shared space we call home. It is through you and the hope that you bring – that together – we will cope.
Brenda Lee Schoepp
Copyright 2020
