be not afraid, make a difference

riki leaves today to spend 10 days with her best friend, molly, who lives in Israel and is a reporter for ABC news. when riki arrives as planned, molly most likely won’t be back yet from Belgium because she was called to Brussels to report on the most recent terrorist event. yet it’s these times when best friends need each other most, and riki will be there to hold molly, and to let broken hearts flow and connect.

molly has a passion. she and riki are both adventurers, whether together or alone, each will do courageous things.  they were both raised to see the world as their possibility – that oceans, and borders are part of the canvas to be explored, not walls to stop them. i think about molly’s mom and i am in awe of how hard it must be to let her daughter go, how hard it must be to let her daughter be so bold, to make the decision to live in the middle east and to report on the struggles there, to be so bold to make a difference in the world.

check out molly’s most recent piece. i promise you will cry:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/syria-refugee-crisis-lucky-family-survived-journey-death/story?id=37609401

as i sit here in my safe home, i am overwhelmed with so many emotions.  my heart breaks for the families who are having to flee, for all the innocent people, for the countries who are welcoming them, and those who are not.  there’s so much to understand, so much to learn, and so much i may never understand.

there are many ways to be bold. as i watch our children go out into the world and i see them go with courage and passion, i feel joy. yes, i could be afraid for them, but that does no one any good. and so i choose to experience what my heart is telling me -share in the glory of their passions.

i look at our children, and i see the possibilities, the openness, the expansive world that is filled with mystery.  this mystery is filled with both good and evil, and as i see my part in its creation, i choose not to contribute to the evil by being afraid.  i choose to see what i can learn, and to appreciate what i do have. and to share in that light that we experience when our hearts our broken, when we are living our passions.

 

my broken heart finds love

my heart opens for the innocent people in brussels.

i’m not going to lie, some of my tears are tears of anger. i will never understand acts of violence. and so i stop trying to change what i cannot. and i try and understand the person behind the act. that person in fear who only knows what he is being taught. as i release the anger, i feel compassion, and an awareness of a broken heart.

today i’m in a heightened state of gratitude. everything, everyone, every moment seems so precious to me. i take nothing for granted, and of course i do. i can go down the list of all the things i’m grateful for, and the list would never end.

from last night’s eclipse, to this morning’s bright moon, i am in awe.

i am so grateful for the freedom i have, for the love that surrounds me, and for the abundant and glorious life that i’m living. thank you universe, thank you for these precious moments.