Hello!

You are on my mind because I just read an article in the New York Times about friendship. (This may be a paywall link, but don’t worry about it. It wasn’t so much the article itself, as it was simply the reminder about the importance of friendship!)

Now, more than ever, we need to connect to our friends. We need to take the time to reach out and see how they are doing. We need to share our feelings, ask for help, and try to find a few things to laugh about.

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Today’s note is my own way of reaching out to you my friend, because we share common values. We care about our relationships. We want to express more love and gratitude. We strive to cultivate peace.

So, if you are reading this right now, please know that you are not alone in the world. No matter how heartbreaking or grief-filled this moment feels, we are all in it together.

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Close your eyes for a moment after you read this paragraph and think about a friend in your life whom you haven’t connected with for a while. Then, please think of a very simple way you could reach out to that person.

It could be a call, a card, a text, an email.

Commit to actually doing it, okay?

We all need to remember that we are a part of a worldwide web of love. 

It really helped me just now to connect to you and to feel that connection to someone else who stands for LOVE.

***

I’ve been saying this like a broken record and here I am again: we must not let ourselves be flattened and overwhelmed by grief and fear.

We have to find ways to take care of ourselves and to hold our center. We have to take care of the people we love.

It’s imperative that we find our way to simple joys, to loving people in our life, to being grateful for what we have, so that we can fuel ourselves to ask the  world, “How can I help?”

Please reach out to someone who may be lonely, scared, heartsick, or ill. Reach out in the simplest way possible so it will happen. 

A small action will have way more impact than a big intention.

Do what you can. Right now.

You can do this.

You are strong. 

You can be strong for others. 

I love you and am cheering you on, always.

Thanks for who you are.

Seek celebration — even in the dark corners,

xo Sherry

 

P.S. If you missed the author panel I facilitated last Wednesday about feeling joy and awe in difficult times, you can watch it here.