Let's be there for each other

I want to share a story with you that happened last year, but it bears repeating.

Scott and I heard a really loud bang around 10pm.

Scary loud. Like gunshots nearby or something else.

So Scott grabbed a flashlight and took off down the block to see what was happening.

I got some shoes on and headed out to the driveway, watching where he went.

When suddenly, the next-door neighbor appeared.? Truthfully, she kinda scared me because I turned around and there she was. Right next to me in a white nightgown and black shoes and socks.

The strange part about this is that we don’t know this neighbor. They seem aloof, so we likely judged them as “weird’ people who aren’t that friendly.

But as we both shared the concern about the explosion/gunshot/loud bang, she began sharing her story with me.

Let’s call her Janey for the sake of her privacy.

Janey was shaking. She told me that her husband was a severe alcoholic, and she was afraid of him. For some reason he’d come home after she kicked him out, and was just sitting in the driveway, car running, stereo blaring.

Suddenly, she stopped being the weird, aloof neighbor. She was a scared, suffering woman who was quite lost. While Scott was down the block talking to neighbors, I tended to Janey.

I will often say that the world needs your gifts in business. The world needs your leadership and for you to show up.

But what that Saturday night showed me even more was that the world needs us to tend to each other.

The days of cancel culture and “othering” have taken a toll. It’s too easy to dismiss someone as weird or different and truth is, they may be in a huge life situation that they don’t know how to handle. We have no idea what it is like to walk in their shoes.

That was Janey’s case. She felt broken.

My heart opened for the scared and fragile woman in front of me.

I know too well about dealing with addiction.? I know the shame when it’s messy and you can’t control what’s happening. And I know how hopeless you feel when they relapse, and your life gets turned upside down again. I lived this with my ex-husband and my son. (Who is now in recovery.)

That’s why, in the middle of whatever was happening with the other neighbors, I tended to this precious soul next to me.

I hugged her.

I normalized her feelings.

I helped her come up with some clear things to do.

I gave her my phone # because she was scared and asked.

And Scott brought the strong male protective energy to the mix after I held her with love and compassion.

When she felt safe and was inside (and the alcoholic husband was locked outside with no key) we left.

I text her the next day and she said, “thank you for your kindness.”

That’s what I want to remind you of today.

It’s awesome to have your leadership and your gifts out in the world.

But my ask of you is that you hold space for a bit more kindness.

That neighbor “found” me because energetically I’m open to that. I live for those moments where I can make a difference. Where I’m in the right place and the right time. Where I have an understanding of the situation and/or have compassion.

And we can all do this. We really need more of this at this very critical time.

My heart was really touched by this magical moment.

I pray you open yourself up for more of these as well.

Remember… tend to people who need tended to.

Big love to you.