An Invitation to Play

Wandering online through the collective stories we’re telling is like driving an old truck down a bumpy dirt road — you kind of expect your car to fall apart at any moment. Yet somehow, it keeps going. It’s been rough lately — namely the election and billions of opinions written in the shock following the election. But that’s not all — there is a lot of messy stuff happening around the world — the middle east, Brexit, the Philippines, a massive refuge crisis, a 7.8 earthquake in New Zealand, and then Apple had to go and release a laptop without any normal ports, when we’ve all been waiting for a super upgrade, and all we got was a… touch bar?

There is always junk, always news that gets stuck wrestling with. We discuss it online endlessly, as almost a kind of whiny infinite background noise. How much of these words actually effect anything?

Instead, perhaps what we need now is an invitation to play. An invitation to grab compassion, humor, kindness, integrity and swirl them together as we reach for new ideas of how we take humanity forward. I mean, people are building solar panel roadways, and organic farming has the potential to make our oil usage irrelevant. There is good stuff happening in the world, and we need to direct our attention to this with humor, forgiveness and loving-kindness. Because when we join the dance on the beauty happening around us, the world dances back. Then we’re using our creative ideas brings us together, instead of binding us in war against each other.

Collectively, I would love for us to step back and turn our focus to sharing ideas that matter. Not just watching TED talks, but taking up causes that we share and promote. I want concrete actions that I can take to help take the world and my community. When there is an article with a little button to donate to some wonderful cause, there is something I can do. When someone told me the heartwarming story of our local Hot Chicken Takeover — a restaurant with a social mission — it warmed my soul, but also gave me an opportunity to go support a great cause just by going to lunch. My local YMCA is doing great work in the community, as is Habitat for Humanity and all these other wonderful organizations.

They need our attention. They need us to dance with them. And they deserve it. Until then, use recyclable bags, or pay the grocery store for children.

Also published on My Empty Bucket.