Welcome to this week’s LoveGram.

Today, I send you that moment when you pass someone on the street and you both say hello at the exact same time.

I send you a sunny exchange with the UPS delivery driver and his cheerful wave when he turns to leave.

I send you an elderly woman behind you in line at the market and the way her face lights up when she talks about her grandson after you comment that the ice-cream in her basket looks yummy.

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Today, my audio LoveGram is about moments of connection with people.

You know, those little moments where your world intersects with someone briefly and there is an opportunity to leave a trace of sunshine or laughter.

Listen to today’s Audio LoveGram by clicking through to this page now!  (Just scroll down on that page until you see the audio player. Press play. That’s it!)

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You’ll hear me talk about how when we are on autopilot, we sometimes totally miss these little lit-up moments.

I want to call them “touchpoints” but when I looked that word up, it has a business meaning: “a point of contact or interaction between a business and its customers.”

Well, shoot. It seems like a waste of such a good word, doesn’t it?

To me, “touchpoints” seems like a great word for a single moment when we are touched by another person.

It is a spark of good ole basic humanity, kindness, and warmth.

It is a pinpoint of light that is shared between people.

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I’m hoping that as you listen to today’s audio, you will think about this for yourself and imagine what your life would be like if you intentionally set out to create more of these happy touchpoint moments.

With so much grief, violence, anger, and division in the world, can you imagine what an impact it might make if each of us set out to build tiny bridges, day by day, with people we might normally ignore?

What if we could pause and remember that each person we pass has hopes and dreams and grief and disappointments and people they love and worries and wishes?

What if, as Ellen Bass says so beautifully in her poem titled If You Knew, “we could see them as they are, soaked in honey, stung and swollen, reckless, pinned against time?”

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Can you imagine that if you intentionally created more of this warm, loving touchpoints, that your life might feel bigger? 

I hope so.

I hope you might choose to give it a whirl and practice today.

This is what we are exploring in the audio today.

After all, we could all use a little more love in our lives.

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I hope you will take 15 minutes to listen to this week’s LoveGram now.

Thank you for being on this journey of love, celebration, and appreciation with me.

Thank you for the ways you practice love.

I’m grateful for your presence in my life.

We are all just walking each other home. (Thank you, Ram Dass.)

Seek celebration — even in dark corners,

xo Sherry

P.S I know how easy it is to feel helpless in the face of horrors. This is just a little encouragement to do something tangible that brings some love and light into the world. It might be donating to an organization offering aid. It might be helping someone ill or elderly in your neighborhood. It might be volunteering. It might be sitting quietly and really listening to someone who is suffering. Whatever feels like the next right action, is the one to take.

P.P.S. I facilitate a Zoom conversation every Wednesday with Mango Publishing authors. Last Wednesday the conversation was focused on ways to bridge differences and to create more connection. If you need some compassionate and thought-provoking conversation, especially in light of the horrific events at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, watch this replay. Our two authors bring so much heart to how we deal with the violence and how we can make changes in our culture.  I know it helped me a lot to hear two men express compassion and wisdom.