Reflections on love and fear
(This was a Facebook post Jane shared on her birthday)
This is 37. I wrote some reflections for last year so thought I may as well again today, now that I’m a year older, a year wiser (maybe).
I’ll start with fear. I don’t think I’ve ever felt fear like this before; which makes me realize how good we’ve had it for so long. It just feels like the world as we know it is on incredibly shaky ground – from geopolitics and war, to climate change, to democracy, income inequality and a growing polarization that seems to divide and shift realities. It’s all, well scary. It makes me want to escape and learn survival tactics.
Which brings me to my second point: dinosaurs. Adrian is an expert in dinosaurs and I have learned more from him than I ever thought imaginable. (Did you know that humans are closer to the time of the T-Rex than the T-Rex was to the stegosaurus?) But seriously, dinosaurs have helped me control my fear. Something about extending time back by hundreds of millions of years and expanding space out to the universe makes me feel small… in a good way. Like, our time here, living this life, is just so short.
And if it’s so short, do I really want to let my fear control me? That’s a pretty heavy load to carry. Or do I make the most of each day and focus on what matters?
And so that’s how I want to live. Not by fear (even if it’s always present), but by love and courage to just “do the thing” you want to do. If the pandemic has taught me anything over these last two years, it’s don’t take anything for granted.
So what’s “my thing”? I’m still on mat leave (sort of) but I’m slowly figuring out my next steps. (I’ve been at home with at least one kid since the pandemic started, so my professional pace is rightfully slow…). I incorporated a new business called Bridge Building Inc. to pursue my facilitation practice. During the Freedom Convoy, for fun, I hosted conversations with people who are for and against the Convoy and it was fantastic. See the article here for how it went: Talking to people we disagree with is scary, but like I said, I don’t want to let fear guide me. It’s time to live courageously.
