A shift is underway. It is tumultuous, real, and necessary. A new authority figure is not going to tell us how to fix things or what to do. The leader is in you, and in me, and she rises like a phoenix out of these ashes. She is the whole that is much greater than the sum of her parts.

What can we do? We can stand up. We can speak from our hearts. We can do that hard thing we’ve been avoiding. We can step aside to let some new voices be heard, the voices of the ones who have stayed quiet, the ones who have been stepped on and marginalized for long enough. We can use what we have. We can be uncomfortable for the sake of listening.

We each have our own part to play in this shift. Only you know what your part is. That’s not for me or anyone else to tell you. But I know your part was made just for you, as mine was made for me. When we show up for ourselves, we show up for our community. We show up on behalf of a greater love. 

The time has come for us to know our own strength. Not the strength to take over, but the strength to do what we came here to do. The power has been there inside us all along.

The time has come to support our sisters and brothers who also work out of love, service, integrity, and truth. They falter sometimes too, and we can all use a hand up now and then.

I have faith in us. I hear stories every day of women and men who face their traumas and their fears. We surface with hearts scarred but open. We fall down, and we will get back up again. We have been brave, and we can be even braver together. Love is still here for us.

Photo by Nacho Juárez