An Unlikely Friendship

On elusive compassion and the choices we make.

Thank you for being here; a brief, shining note this week on finding compassion for ourselves and making new friends.

Intending to bring an energy of peace and respect to all, at the end of last week I posted a prayer from my heart. Dozens of notes of gratitude arrive, along with a barrage of accusations, threats and comments laced with myriad epithets. I make a few choices: To learn something I don’t know, to have compassion for myself and others, to stay open in the face of all of it.

To be abundantly clear, I care deeply about all humanity. I do not agree with the violence from either side of this war. Period, full stop. I do not support any genocide, and do not want anyone’s child to die, ever.

Studying some of the accounts from whence said comments emerged (more than a few bots among them), I see my misunderstandings and apologize to those who’d hear. How human of me. Clumsily I edit the wording, heart open. I engage with a few via direct message to see if we might put our peaceful intentions into play and have an actual interaction, maybe ask some questions to learn together.

I receive two responses out of a dozen attempts. Of note, one life-affirming exchange leading to a new, true friend.

Here’s what’s happening.

Hilma af Klint, Group IV of The Ten Largest, No. 7: Adulthood, 1907.

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