• Listening is a two person job. When listening erodes, kindness goes out the door. Find something-- anything that you can relate to in another's story. Listening is not agreeing. It's merely hearing another out, regardless of rightness or opinion. In the end, we all want to feel that we're heard. Give listening a chance.

• Compassion is a one person job. Compassion starts at home with one's self. Compassion is the art of creating space for kindness to occur. Space for possibility and problem-solving. Carve tiny access-points in your language and actions where you can to remember and practice compassion. Allow opportunities for kindness to seep in. Don't forget, we're all in this together. There's no other place to go. Seriously, we're all in this together.

• Find your piece if you want peace. FYI- Not everyone wants peace. I get the world has upset and sometimes folks live for a fight. It gives one a sense of ownership, comradery and belonging. And yet- at the end of the day- really we all want peace. So, figure out what your piece is and ask yourself, do my actions foster peace? If not, draw a larger circle and find another way to stand on your stump.

BONUS: Change is Life. There is no way to stop the tsunami of change. We are observers and subjects of an ever-shifting sea. Tides go in and out. Trees grow and die. Stars are born and burn out. These are nature's cycles and we're in them and made of them, like it or not. And sometimes it sucks. Must we step backwards to move forward?? Sometimes we do. A dance is never in a straight line out the door. It's a twisty, turning, toe stompin', unpredictable experience that we have the privilege to explore. Where do you want to be in this dance? On the bench, on the floor, backstage, in the car? So many ways to observe and participate. Sometimes we like the music, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we have a partner, sometimes we don't. My point is, there's really no answers here, only the possibility of participating mindfully.