Every field brings with it its own lens for looking at the world. People who have spent their whole lives looking deeply into one thing are changed by it.

Each of us has limited resources in this life. I only have so much time, money or energy to give out.

Other people will let you down. They will screw stuff up, they will forget stuff, and they will straight up tell you that all that work you did was wrong and doesn’t matter.

It’s hard when your own mind won’t just give you a break and believe what you tell it to believe.

Can I let you in on my own private conspiracy theory? I think that the feeling of helplessness in the face of so much need is there to keep us from taking action.

No matter how small, no matter how inconsequential, we have the ability to shape and change situations.

Everything feels inaccessible before I’ve done it. Everything feels impossible before I’ve tried.

I want to start talking about how we can take our skills and our connections and use them to make a difference.

With each small choice to build a community I’ll do more than just meet the future as it comes, I’ll be preparing for it by making sure that the people in my life know that we’ll have each other’s backs, no matter what.

Learning to celebrate the small moments ensures that I will notice the good even in the midst of uncertainty. It keeps my eyes on the prize.

Today, I’d like you to consider going back over this last week and just thinking over things.

Having a community that handles the details gives us time to just process and rest, while reminding us that even in the most devastating circumstances, we’re not alone.

Far more often than not, the only thing that we can do when someone is suffering is give them loving attention and time.

Sometimes living in the real world with real people means we don’t have the luxury of resentment or of the time it takes to forgive.

It gives me great hope to see people coming together, offering what they have to build a community worth being a part of.

When I have these seemingly stupid conflicts where either someone’s insensitivity or oversensitivity seem ridiculously outsized, I always have to remind myself to take a step back.

Curiosity opens my mind to the possibility that those choices might make sense, in a way I just haven’t seen yet.

If you’ve been following this and done a few of these rest days, I’d like to invite you to take a moment to look back at what you chose to do last week or the week before.

Those final appreciations remind us that even when our connections are strained, there is good in each other.

We’re not gentle enough with ourselves. I don’t think we were ever taught to be.