From the Founder, December 2016
December is a month for giving, receiving, reflecting and setting intentions for the new year.
With everything going on in the world – the election results, ongoing violence and unrest, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and many feelings of uneasiness and discomfort – I can safely say I have never felt like this. This year, the holiday spirit has taken on a different meaning.
The theme of “seeing things through new eyes” is front and center for me. The past few weeks have represented a true wake up for me and many others about the true state of our country, how unhappy and fearful people are, that I’ve been living in my own bubble along with most of the people I know (more than I/we realized), and so much more. The most clear piece is that things were not what they seemed.
I’m obsessed with Westworld, which delves deep into this concept of seeing things through new eyes. It explores the concept of humanity and proposes that these man-made machines are actually more human than the humans themselves. This seems to be such a prescient theme and is more timely than ever. If you haven’t watched the show, I highly recommend it.
Back to the hard reality… we all need to take a good hard look at the issues and what we personally can take responsibility for, and what we can impact and change. This is scary in some respects, but also a good thing. Never have I seen so many people so passionately reading and studying and activating around the values they/we hold dear. I’ve heard so many stories of people opening up new conversations and hearing surprising details about the issues people are facing and new perspectives. I thought this article was an interesting perspective about the state of things…a time of darkness in which we’re forced to see things for what they are.
I feel fortunate to be surrounded by an amazingly smart, socially conscious and powerful group of people. Today, thanks to the wake-up call, it’s safe to say that we all need to see more and do more. The time is now. Is this empowering? I hope so. Eye-openers are necessary, regardless of how uncomfortable they are. I have to believe that now that we’re seeing things through new eyes and in a more realistic way, we will all be forced to figure out what really matters to us, individually and collectively. And to do something about it.
I hope we can all take this holiday season to think about what “doing something about it” means. It could mean making year-end donations to organizations protecting our rights, the environment, animals and anything else we feel strongly about. It could mean creating communal ways of discussing the issues at hand and how we all can do better to play a role. It could be as simple as opening up a new dialogue with our loved ones. Or all of the above. Most importantly, each of us can think about how we communicate with and listen to (truly hear) others, how we can treat each other in a more loving and compassionate way, and what ways – little and big – we can shift our own behavior so we increase our integrity and truthfulness.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season. And that seeing things through new eyes will lead us all to positive change and progress in 2017.
xx
Amy