You can't change the world if you hate yourself.
I saw a podcast episode title last week that stopped me in my tracks:
"You can't change the world if you hate yourself."
The truth of that sentence resonated through my entire body.
How often do we use fear and self-judgement as our fuel?
Many of us started listening to our hateful inner drill sergeant long before we were aware that we had one.
I used to tally up everything I did "wrong" in my head every night before going to bed.
Not the best strategy for restful sleep, I'll tell ya!
We live in a world that needs us.
This week's Inauguration brought so much relief, release, hope and healing.
We have our first ever Black and South Asian Woman Vice President!!
We have a President who is grieving and honoring the 400,000 lives that we've lost to the Coronavirus, who is naming white supremacy, who started to unwind the inhumane and divisive damage of the last 4 years on his first day in office.
A President who stands for equity, LGBTQ rights, our climate, immigrants and DACA Dreamers, a healthy environment, a mask mandate, and so much more. He has already stopped the harmful and racist Muslim travel ban, the wall between the US and Mexico, and overturned a number of detrimental environmental policies (including revoking the permit for the Keystone pipeline!). He also rebuilt ties with the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement.
His love [of people, justice, and the environment] influences every decision he makes.
We are watching our country shift from being led by FEAR to being led by LOVE.
We felt it in 22-year old National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman's poem, The Hill We Climb. “We lift our gazes not to what stands between us but what stands before us.”
We felt it when Andrea Hall, the president of the International Federation of Firefighters, led us in the Pledge of Allegiance by speaking it and signing it. She is the first Black woman to became Fire Captain in Fulton County, Georgia.
We felt it in the powerful presence of disability represented as a part of American culture and politics like we have never seen before (@AAPD).
We felt it when Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were sworn into the U.S. Senate. Ossoff is the first Jewish senator in Georgia history and Warnock is Georgia's first-ever Black senator.
We felt it in the way President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden embraced their family in celebration, knowing how precious family is.
We felt it in Vice President Kamala Harris' smiling, shining eyes as she was sworn in.
President Biden encouraged us to "lead not by the example of our power but by the power of our example."
How will you lead with love?
This historical sea change requires a level of self-love that some of us may have never felt before.
It will require deep kindness and gentle compassion with ourselves and with each other.
As Valarie Kaur said in The People's Inauguration kickoff event yesterday, "Revolutions don’t just happen in the big moments, they happen in the small moments. They will require breath, renewal, and recommitment to laboring with love as your compass."
If I want to dismantle fear and hate in the world, I need to start by dismantling it in myself.
I did listen to the "You Can't Change the World if you Hate Yourself" podcast - it featured Sonya Renee Taylor, one of my favorite authors, speakers and women. Many things she said stood out to me - this sentence the most:
“Can I practice loving the me who isn’t any of the things I want it to be yet?”
Not sure where to begin?
Consider joining us in Led by Love. It's an 8-week program where you'll rewire your inner thoughts to speak with love and empathy instead of fear and judgement. This is a one-of-a-kind program. Our Led by Love journey has four parts:
Learn: Weekly training videos will guide you to rewire your mind using proven, research-backed methods
Connect: our small circle of women connect weekly to celebrate wins, share questions and support each other
Practice: You'll receive easy daily guided practices (some only 2 minutes long!) customized just for you to lock in your learning
Sustain: Celebrate all that you've learned and identify opportunities to keep your learning alive long after the program has ended
We have 3 more spots left. Is one of them yours?
I'm sending you lots of love and a big, slow, exhale.
xo,
Stacy
