whew. we can use a big reminder to practice empathy right now.

empathy seems to be what we are lacking most regarding many areas of life whether it be the pandemic, immigration, poverty, healthcare, and more particularly in the last day or so regarding Simone Biles – our veneration of celebrity and athletes.

we have this perverse habit of becoming awed by people in their excellence, lifting them up, nearly worshipping them, only to tear them apart when reality sets in – they are not the gods we have created them to be. they are what they have always been – human.

we have a responsibility to allow people to be human, to be authentic, to be vulnerable, even fragile. their humanity, their welfare, and their wellbeing should be more important than our idea of who they should be, who we want them to be, or the dollar signs that accompany their name or image.

may hearts open.

~j

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