One of Love146’s core values is “Unfiltered Joy”, and it’s weeks like this that make me say “But how?” All of the news is dreadful: Covid, Haiti, Afghanistan, raging wildfires… – and that is alongside what we each may be carrying personally. I think of the youth we serve, and how this is impacting them. Of our amazing team and supporters, including you, who continue to adapt in order to fuel the mission and not forget about trafficked children. And because everything feels heavy and everyone I know is so tired, I wonder where joy is.
Several people I look to for guidance wrote pieces this week centered around the idea of holding space for what we can – and recognizing we can’t hold it all. It’s been comforting, this recognition that we’re not able to carry it all, and so we hold our pieces of it.
The part of you that feels overwhelmed and can’t hold it all isn’t the part that is inhuman — it’s the part that is profoundly human. Recognizing our human limitations also creates space for moments of Unfiltered Joy. The joy of celebrating our colleague who got married, and those who’ve had babies in the past few weeks. The joy of being silly. The joy of dogs and kiddos popping into our virtual meetings. The joy of taking that break to go for a walk and clear our heads. And for me, the joy of the care and love received while I was recovering from Covid over the last week.
At Love146, we often talk about pacing ourselves for the long haul, and that message rings true in this moment in history. Let’s intentionally hold space for what we can. And may we find space to rest, disconnect and recharge, carry both grief and joy, and honor the humanity in ourselves and each other.
“I’m not saying we should put our heads in the sand. I’m saying that if your circuits are overwhelmed there’s a reason and the reason isn’t because you are heartless, it’s because there is not a human heart on this planet that can bear all of what is happening right now.” Nadia Bolz-Weber
