Normalizing Love, February 2022

It's so hard to not sound cliché when talking about love. Why? In English, emotions and relationship concepts are limited to one dimensional words. In reality, love exists in many expressions and relationships: Love of another's humanity. Love of a friend. The love of a child. Of a dear pet. Love of work, love of the struggle...How do we normalize the role of L.O.V.E. in our working-with-equity lives? What does it entail - to love unconditionally? Come, let's talk love and receive your own flowers of gratitude. If you are capable of love, you too deserve love. Let us together understand what that love means to you. 
​March 1, 2022 Learning by Julia
We begin with a dedication to the artists and musicians for reminding us, through all time and space, of the power of love.  Not only that fairy tale, romantic, best friends for life, kinda love that exists on every channel, but also that kinda love that gets us through. Love that challenges us to grow. We remember the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his power. We read, "[P]ower without love is reckless. And love without power is sentimental. In other words power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. And justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love..." So of course we ask, "Where do you see power and love intersecting in your life?"
We begin our 2.5 hour single answer by inviting the power of silence. The breathe holds and releases, and we find love in design. Imagine designing everything in love! In this design, we find ample room for all histories, without first weighing value compared to... ALL of our ancestors stories tell us how to love better in the now; resilience, and how to protect our children from us passing along harmful ways.
Us experiencing these same harmful ways as those before us, we rebel and love when we should be 'professional'. We weigh our words: they have power. We respect our positions of influence, as we wanted our oppressors to understand: power without love is reckless. "We must not worry about using the word Power..." (MLK) At all levels of title, we speak to the elephant in the room, and are thanked for it. With this, we practice answering with confidence, "How did you use your power?"
Sometimes, that power is simply the ability to love self. In equity advocacy, we advocate for self as a form of love of community. We give permission to self, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!" We don't hurt ourselves for others comfort, instead we advocate for celebration of self with vigor. When surrounded by those not capable of the celebration of Me, of what I know and where I've been, I heavy sigh. Patience for theft of my soul body no longer exists, "Fuck it. Imma love you in all the hard ways." Because, you can't steal what is given freely. 
Down to the cellular level of existence, we are never without love. The capacity to love exists in infinite measure, we are ALL made of stardust! Love exists in the transmission of knowledge, in the sharing and honoring of power, in the "It feels good to not feel small."
We leave the second round to self: Name yo mantra. Mine? "I love myself. I know my worth. And, no one can take that from me." Mind-muscle-memory, activate! Practice.
In the name of rebalancing power in favor of love, next month we continue the learning with, "Yeah, I Said it: DEI is Dead." Stay in tune.