13/09/2025
It's human nature to want to defend yourself.
To protect yourself from further pain, rejection, spite, or hurt.
To try to explain how you came to a conclusion or to rationalize your perspective or behavior so that you can feel understood (and for many of us feeling understood = feeling safe).
But arguing to prove your point or defend your cause in a moment where all participating parties' emotions are running high is not going to get you the result you're looking for.
As we see every single day, it just continues to widen the divide.
Right now, around the world for many different reasons, people are grieving.
They're distraught, disappointed, defensive, angry, and deeply afraid of what the future might bring.
And in this particular moment debate, mockery, and arguments aren't what's needed to move the needle.
Instead of trying to prove your point intellectually, what would it look like to live it out?
To embody your values?
To give people space to process their pain without mockery or derision?
To act kindly and generously — even toward those who may not appear to “deserve” it?
This is the work that actually moves the needle.
It’s incredibly difficult work: noticing resistance, processing your own feelings, and choosing response over reaction.
It’s learning how to stay grounded in your integrity (or how to return to it when you waver).
This is how bridges are built — in intimate relationships and across fences, streets, and aisles.
Words only go so far.
What do you need in order to ground yourself today?
