At this 9/11 memorial in Napa, tucked into the rusty beams were these beautiful single roses that had dried over time; it took me back to my first trip to NYC in 2004 with the talent agency I was signed with, as a teenager who didn't [really] understand what had happened or why. I remember the feeling of my heart sinking to my gut seeing the last beams standing, and 🖊messages written on walls and fences [like, "daddy, please come home", "mommy, we miss you"...] with marker from children and loved ones of the lives that were lost; I'll never forget how that felt. I was moved with so much compassion in those minutes I stood there. That feeling is still fresh in my mind today, over a decade later.
With all the negative attitudes and division going on that just becomes amplified in the political season we are in, alongside all the other issues we face today, I hope those of us in both in or out of the U.S. can still be grateful for America and will at least have the strength and dignity to show the love, hope and compassion we all wish we would see more of. There are so many hurtful and ugly things that have, and do, go on that we only contribute to the mess when we walk around with hateful hearts.
We won't ever all agree, but we all bleed red, and have the capacity to show at least a little more love around here.
