Jessica Lloyd Rogers participates in CD’s weekly Coffee, Compassion, and Conversation series. Building on last week’s discussion of our story of self, this week we considered our respective story’s of us. Jessica granted me permission to share what she wrote. She captures it so well.
Story of Us
by Jessica Lloyd Rogers
Once upon a time…
People across the world felt the need to connect in a way that was nourishing and compassionate. They wanted to have that human touch in a world where touching is discouraged because what once was healing now carries the potential for sickness and even death. One by one they heard of a zoom call where they could see others who might be isolated in their personal lives, but were willing to come together in a new medium to share themselves and to partake of others’ joys, sorrows, and wisdom. When they came together something special was born. For an hour, they were able to connect, to see that they were not alone, to see how simply by talking with and sharing with one another, they can build a vision for a better world and be part of making that happen. Simply by making time, sharing bits of themselves, and listening to one another, they each learned how to be softer in a hard world. They learned how to be softer with themselves and to give themselves the gift of each other. In reaching out virtually, each of them came home to themselves and home to building a bigger, more inclusive world of healing. It is a start. A good beginning. How will we continue?
Jessica Lloyd Rogers
“I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no “brief candle” for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.“
George Bernard Shaw
