March 2021

Dear Friends,

A time to reflect & rebuild smarter & stronger

A virus that first surfaced in December 2019 in a seafood and poultry market across the world upended all of our lives. We have a chance now after over a year of living with this pandemic to reflect and grieve and rebuild our societies smarter, stronger and with more heart. To go back to “business as usual” would be an incredible disservice to this cosmic wake up call and the tragic loss of lives and livelihood we experienced.

According to The New York Times, Covid-19 has sickened more than 80 million people worldwide and killed over 1.7 million people. As I think back on my own life and the life of Lead with Love over this last year, I can hardly believe how much has changed.

I know for many of you this has been the hardest year of your lives. In our country, we are experiencing hunger, racial injustice, housing insecurity and a healthcare and childcare crisis like nothing we’ve seen. We’ve addressed all of these issues and things we can do in our Love in Action program since last July.

Our systems of care and our foundation of Democracy have been stressed by lack of cooperation, leadership and trust. I’ve never experienced so tangibly and viscerally what happens when fear leads vs love. I’ve seen it in myself, my family, my community, my country and across the world throughout this last year and I want something different for our future, don’t you?

Lead with Love exists to shift culture from fear to love and to build a culture of wellbeing in our valley. We have done this through our programming and events over the last five years. In a bubble of safety and security where our basic needs are met we know that people can shift their minds and hearts from a mindset of fear and lack into one led by love. It’s exhilarating to witness and feel that shift! And, while more challenging when basic needs aren’t met, we know it is still possible. People like Viktor Frankl and Nelson Mandela prove that.

This most challenging year has provided humanity with a wake-up call. Do we want to continue to operate in a zero sum game where one person or country wins and another loses? Where those with means survive and others die? Where we pollute and neglect our bodies and health as well as the essential elements of our survival like clean air, water and soil and pretend that we didn’t know better? Do we want to continue to operate as programmed robots wearing a red or blue jersey blaming the other side for everything that’s wrong? In sum, do we want to continue to operate from a place of scarcity and fear or expand in consciousness to a place of abundance and love?

I know most of us would choose the latter and if that’s you then we must start to make this shift within ourselves, our families, our communities, counties, states, nation and world. I don’t believe change will occur outside of ourselves until it occurs within each of us to hold things differently as a way of being. To me this looks like constantly checking in and taking ownership asking questions like: “Am I operating from fear or love? How can I shift toward love? What is the most loving response? What brings light to this situation? What can reduce suffering in this situation? How can I be the change I wish to see in this situation? Can I let go of needing to be right and just listen? Am I triggered right now? If so, can I breathe? Can I walk away and revisit this later?”

To thrive and not just survive as a species we must retrain our reptilian, survival-oriented brain that wants to make others wrong and blame and bitch and “win” to one that operates from a place of cooperation and unity consciousness. I have a fundamental knowing and belief that we are all one and yet I struggle to operate from that place just as most of us do because of my biological wiring, my comfort, my indoctrination and my unwillingness to take personal responsibility. Only I can change that and that’s what I try to do each day. And then try again.

Tomorrow, on March 20, 2021, we gather in our valley as a community to reflect on a year of a global pandemic that upended our lives. A pandemic that created stress, insecurity and fear and potentially also some lessons about slowing down and being more present and proactive. I encourage you to join in with one of our valley institutions or somewhere near you to pause and reflect on this Spring Equinox. This is a time to emerge from darkness into light and create a strong intention for the future to lead with love, not fear.

Pausing to Reflect on the Pandemic

Saturday March 20th 12noon-2.00pm - Across the Valley

A chance to look back and to look forward on the Spring Equinox

Whether you visit one of the gathering places listed below, take time in nature, or visit The Aspen Chapel website for an online gathering from 12-2pm mst, take time on March 20th to Pause and Reflect on what the pandemic has meant for you and where to set your sail moving forward. Click here to read a guest column on this community gathering and HERE for Gina’s monthly Love in Action column in The Aspen Times

Participating Organizations:

Lead with Love

Aspen Shakti

St Mary’s Aspen

Aspen Jewish Community Center - Chabad of Aspen

The Aspen Chapel

The Aspen Jewish Congregation

St Peter’s of the Valley, Basalt

The Way of Compassion Dharma Center, Carbondale

The Snowmass Chapel

Aspen Community Church

Davi Nikent Carbondale