“The lack of a singular hero in the face of this disaster is not something to fret — only our desire for one is. Even though some claimed to be such heroes around the other disasters we’ve faced, I find they were more like the movies we make – they were acting a role. They were fulfilling our fantasies. We need and want something different now than individual heroes.
My fantasy is that now together we start to step out of our illusion. The truth is there will be no hero to save us.
There will only be each other. There will only ever be each other.
It is time we stop motivating everything to allow only one person to wear the cape. The heroes are the community. The community shall rise. It is by working together that things get built back better. There are no small actions. Each little improvement we make demonstrates our abilities to make a difference. When we look at all of these and take them together, we see teamwork.
Sometimes we lead. Sometimes we support. Each time and with each action, we are lending a hand. We are reaching out. We find a path and build it so others too can walk forward.” -Ted Hope
“The only solution is love and that love comes with community.” -Dorothy Day
“My grandfather was the first sage warrior I knew…Papa Ji tied his turban every day, clasped his hands behind his back, and surveyed the world through the eyes of wonder. When he listened to kirtan, sacred music, he closed his eyes and let the music resound wondrously within him; he wrote poetry in his garden…As I fell asleep each night, Papa Ji would sing the Mool Mantr, the foundational verse that opens the Guru Granth Sahib, our sacred canon of musical wisdom. It begins with the utterance “Ik Onkar,” which means Oneness, ever-unfolding. “All of Sikh wisdom flows from here,” Papa Ji would say. All of us are part of the One. Separateness is an illusion: There is no essential separateness between you and me, you and other people, you and other species, or you and the trees. You can look at anyone or anything and say: You are a part of me I do not yet know.” -Valarie Kaur, Sikh activist and author of Sage Warrior: Wake to Oneness, Practice Pleasure, Choose Courage, Become Victory
Depending on the situation, your circumstance and your strengths…Perhaps you lead. Perhaps you follow. Perhaps you do both.
But either way, no one ever does it alone.
We do it together. With each other. For each other. Because we only have each other.
We are one.
P.S. – This inspiring news story of nonprofit groups partnering to transform a downtown LA arts hub into temporary housing for fire victims.
P.P.S. – For more of the interview with Valarie Kaur including a brief story of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith, click Here.
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