BIG WIDE WORLD

I was driving to a work thing today & listening to a podcast.  This man, a PhD in Archaeology, was speaking about his work documenting the journeys of migrants to the USA.  He gave the estimated number of people that die in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona trying desperately to leave Mexico and enter the US. I was overcome with shock, grief and despair. This big wide world we live in is a terrible place sometimes.  Innocent people die, the sick cannot get help, the hungry continue to go hungry and the rich keep getting richer. I started crying as I drove but quickly sucked it up and carried on. I was on my way to work and I didnt want to carry this low vibration energy into a massage event.

This idea that the world is huge, scary and unforgiving crept in and out as the day went on.  But who wants to think of their neighborhood, city, state and country this way?? Certainly not me.  Yet, I do know frightening things happen all the time. I just cannot focus on it because if I do, I will be overcome.

Fast forward…

I had a successful work event, an enriching lunch w my Coven sister Corrine and a pleasant drive home.  I was paging through Real Simple Magazine at the kitchen table and I came across an article about something called the Great Neighbor Awards.  

What is that you ask? 

Real Simple Magazine and Nextdoor (a social network that aims to bring communities together) honor people for doing GOOD THINGS for their neighbors, friends and communities.  I read about a Jamiah that grows produce and created Crop Swap LA.  I read about Emmalee that helped her neighbor who had a stroke get housing, furnishing and healthcare.  

Once again today, I am moved to tears.  The world IS big...scary...AND surprising, loving, powerful because of PEOPLE.  People that do kind things for their neighbors with no expectation or reward.  

I can hold space for tragedy AND hope at the same time.  I can participate in small acts of kindness that will ripple out into larger acts of peace.  We ALL can. 

We can change and upgrade the Earth's vibration one act at a time! 

I will take a moment and smile at a stranger, hold the door for the mom w a stroller etc and hopefully that will make a small difference in this big, wide world.