“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
- Martin Luther King Jr. 

These words by Martin Luther King Jr. are just as relevant now while protests are happening all around the United States in the wake of George Floyd's killing as they were in 1957 when he first said them in a sermon. In 1967, 10 years later, the Beatles released "All You Need is Love." Love is needed now more than ever. But what exactly does that mean? And how do we get there to where love actually overrides hate? 

Some say love is a noun, others say it is a verb. It is a state of being and also an emotion. It is hard to capture everything it can mean and everything it can be. With what is happening right now in our country,  I see a lot of love, believe it or not. I see love in the peaceful, diverse protests taking place in major citie ...

Read more

Normally, I post a new blog post as close to the 1st of each month as I can. This month, I'm 12 days late. It's because I've been hibernating. Maybe you have, too. 

With all the changes that have come about in the world because of COVID-19 in the past few months, one change is fairly universal: we are all home more often. Even the people who are still working a full-time job at their place of work are home more often. No gyms. No movie theaters. No restaurants. No social gatherings. We are forced to spend more time at home occupying ourselves. For some people, this transition came easily while for others, it may have felt like torture to no longer go out like normal. No matter what, it's something we are not used to. 

Centuries ago, human beings used to "hibernate" in the winter months. That changed when the world become more industrialized. Businesses now keep their hours the same regardless of what time the sun ...

Read more

It was some time ago when I was in a therapy session of my own that my therapist said, "The opposite of fear is love." It took me awhile before I fully understood what she was talking about. In sessions since, this has come up multiple times. She refers to different emotions as being in the "fear family" or the "love family." Members of the fear family include anxiety, overwhelm, anger, hurt, etc. while the love family includes courage, peace, joy, and more. 

More than ever, the world needs love right now. Sure, love can't cure a virus. Love can't lift shelter-in-place orders, but it can help us feel better. I've seen and heard about many acts of love, including neighbors buying groceries for each other, the movement to sew medical masks, and people just calling each other more than usual. These are beautiful things taking place; that's the good news. The bad news is that there are a whole lot of people dying and there is a lot of u ...

Read more