When the World Gets Heavy

Going back to the beginning and remembering why I created this blog: to be a healing influence in an otherwise fractured world. Life is messy, complicated, and takes liberties to throw you off track and off kilter. But it is always, and forevermore, stunning in its beauty.

At any given point in your life, you will have to go back to the beginning. It is times such as these that I remember why I started this blog. A combination of a healing journey and reconnecting with a love of writing that sat dormant for 20 something years led me to where I am now. But there was more to it than that.

I took issue with the status of existing inspirational blogs. They all regurgitated the same self-improvement language that has not vastly improved the status of multiple generations. The future is yours for the taking. You can do anything you set your mind to. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. All statements that appear motivational, but really they just sound good to repost on LinkedIn or stick on your bulletin board or refrigerator.

They take up space; they do not make space.

In the literal sense, they take up physical space on a wall or online profile. However, they do not make space for you to achieve all you can while dealing with family, career, and a world that is in a constant state of upheaval. Life is messy, complicated, and takes liberties to throw you off track and off kilter. But it is always, and forevermore, stunning in its beauty.

I wanted a space where the written inspiration was rooted in the reality life gives us on any given day. Some days that is sheer, unbridled joy. Others it is a depth of grief we cannot climb out of. Some days laughter and humor season the hours from dawn til dusk. Others, chaos conspires to give us whiplash we never saw coming.

All of us need inspiration that meets us where we are, not inspiration that assumes fair weather, steady wind, and a capable crew. The material needed to be relatable, a 2–3-minute read and leave the reader with something that stuck—a catchy sentence, a new way of thinking, a way to cope or heal, how to view things differently, or a laugh that lightened the day. And it needed to destigmatize the periods in our life we all go through, the fear of failure, losing faith, being lost, and letting go, among others.

But beyond that, there was something more. I wanted a space that brought people together. If there was a space where people of all backgrounds and philosophies could enjoy an article, and in so doing identify with a shared set of values—in the long term that would be a healing influence in an otherwise fractured world.

Humanity is rooted in values. A consensus on values means the spark of shared humanity is still there. It may be mired under layers of divisiveness, hopelessness, apathy, and anger but it is still able to be salvaged. Empathy is how we dig it out.

When the world gets heavy, I take comfort in knowing the spark of shared humanity still exists. After all, you and those with opposing viewpoints are reading this right now.

Empathy reaches across divides. We should wield it more often.