Let's Do This 2022!
December 2021
Hello Friends.
My daughter called me in tears after watching Don’t Look Up on Netflix. She is 17 and while excited about life, can feel the stressed state of humanity and the planet. She rides a beautiful yet delicate balance between optimism, joy, and creativity, with caution, discernment, and speculation. How does one come into the world in a time where predictability disappears like quicksand?
I reassured her that while times are challenging and much of what we face is not easy, it is an incredibly blessed time to be alive. I asked her to imagine being born in the 1950’s when life was like The Truman Show, or in Egypt when generations spent their lives forced into grueling labor to build pyramids for Pharos.
Yes, we face a lot of change, yes, we are living in a time of merging and shifting cultures, races, and religions, yes, we are losing species and ecosystems that support the web of life, and yes, there is a lot of binary thinking kicking around causing tension and separation from one another. Yet said perfectly at the end of Don’t Look Up, “We really DO have it all, don’t we?”
While shopping for groceries the other day, I ran into several friends. In a small community like Carbondale, we share so many of life’s ups and downs. I was laughing at the significant variability in thoughts, dialogue, and opinions shared by each person -- it reflected our natural environment, requiring all kinds of resilience to make it through the extreme hots and bitter colds. It made me think about a book, ‘The Art of Gathering’, by Priya Parker. In the book, Priya posed a question emerging before the pandemic but enhanced by periods of quarantine; “Is how we come apart equally as important as how we come together?”
These days, I find myself enjoying more time alone. Being with others can feel like an assault on the nervous system! Yet this is the season of togetherness where many are spending time with family and friends. During this time, people are experiencing tension and conflict around the dinner table. Yet we need one another and are challenged to find connection and heart-felt engagement, and hence my sincere excitement for the work emerging at Lead with Love.
One of the five areas of practice Lead with Love incorporates in our programming is Heart Coherence. This is a simple practice of bringing attention and breath back into the area of the heart which brings the heart into a frequency that regulates the nervous system. Many contemporary scientists believe it is the underlying state of our physiological process that determines the quality and stability of the feeling and emotions we experience.
While being in coherence brings clarity of thinking, it, more importantly, awakens a state of genuine care and heartfelt connection to the people around us. I find myself looking into another’s eyes more deeply and valuing the person’s essence. Somehow my focus goes to appreciation and less to the words being spoken, which allows me to hear what the person might be saying BEHIND the words said.
We all can be Climate Changers! Each of us can change the climate of any social situation just by doing simple neuro-regulation practices. This coupled with an intention to find our shared humanity can shift our experience and the outcome of engagement.
2021 was a year of going inward at Lead with Love to take a sincere look at the state of humanity and assess how we can truly be of service. Humanity is a beautiful diverse ecosystem made up of unique individuals contributing to the expression of consciousness. We are blessed to share this experience with the millions of remarkable species who are part of the whole and contribute to the overall wellbeing of the planet.
We will hit the ground running in 2022! Our hearts are bright with hope and joy for all that is to come. The Lead with Love family continues to grow, and we value that you are part of our family. Together, we are creating a beautiful movement to truly Lead with Love – a new way of being is emerging. Let’s do this!
Anne White, Executive Director
