There are problems that are way beyond my pay grade (and yours) - I will probably not do some big, epic thing in the world that will suddenly snap all that is broken back into focus.

But I can do a good work, right where I am planted, caring for my family and coworkers, reaching out when it matters, giving my money to meaningful causes, delighting in beauty and practicing gratitude.  I can do a good work of willing the good for everyone that I encounter.

Lake Superior always right-sizes me.  When I am near her, I am awestruck by a force that makes me small.

This is an important truth:  I am significant, but I am small.

Because the churn of work can make everything BIG.

Why does loneliness matter?
Your lonely employees are more likely to get sick, more likely to tune out, and more likely to leave your organization.  This is a cost to both your hiring and your retention as well as to your health insurance premiums.

The smartest organizations know the power of documenting their processes so they are replicable, equitable, and aren't dependent on just one person.

But we haven't applied that degree of intention (or documentation) for how we care for people during the inevitable, disruptive life events that will occur.

I was reminded, through the eyes and story of Abdurrahman, that some of the best of who we are-and-can-be as people is to be people who are kind, who create opportunities for others, who extend a welcome and reach out with care.

Whether that is to a stranger, to a coworker, or to a person that lives in your home - each movement of kindness matters and helps to co-create communities that we all want to be a part of.

And while we can’t, ultimately, know who we would be until we are in the moment, I know that empathy and kindness and courage don’t emerge from a vacuum. These traits are forged (or not) in a hundred small moments.

Moments where it would be easier to turn away, to just keep going in the other direction or onwards with the task instead of caring for the person.

You can choose to spend a lot of time and energy in judgment/annoyance - or you can engage your curiosity and wonder

Grief is love expressing itself over time...and anniversaries can feel particularly poignant. 

There is goodness in rest.  Consider this week's newsletter an invitation - if your life demands and mental load resemble that woefully overloaded trailer, take a moment to consider - what can I unload?

In his final days, Tozer taught me to interrogate the stories I make up in my mind, to practice greater curiosity, to lean in (when the behavior seems odd/out of character) and ask, "what else *might* be going on here?"

Where can you (and I) embrace the slow-and-patient today?

Remember, empathy begins at home.  Consider the golden rule:  love your neighbor as you love yourself.  If you are not growing in empathy and care for the disruptive, orphaned parts of your own story, it will be difficult to (sustainably) show up with care and support for those you care about at work and in life.