I read a disheartening article tonight. No, it wasn’t about COVID-19 stats. It was about a NYC mother with a large online following who decided to take her family out of the city – the center of the war zone – before the CDC issued a travel advisory warning for New Yorkers. Yes, that is the thin premise of the thick piece, whose prose is professional but whose tone leans toward being critical. I think the author meant well, but for me, between her tone and the mean comments her thoughts garnered from readers online, the piece’s aftertaste wasn’t uplifting. Rather, it left me thinking about some solid advice from my mom growing up:
If what you have to say about someone isn’t kind, say it to yourself and no one else.
Those are my two cents. In conclusion, here are two cents more:
The middle of a global pandemic is not the time to capitalize on another woman’s subjectively weak moment. It is not the time to tear down. This is a time to lift and to build, to focus on effort and good intent, and to treat others the way you hope to be treated. Terrifying moments in time are a time to be kind. Let’s be the kind of women who pass on compassion and who take a pass on dishing judgment. “Love,” as a noun, comes from what you go through with another person, and heavens, are we NOT all going through this valley together? All of us? Around the world? Let us let this chapter in history bring us closer together to “the brotherhood of man,” or rather, the sisterhood of women. Because it can, sister, if we make that choice.
Buoy up > belittle.
XO
Pic via: our second walk of the day today. My girls’ support and love of each other through the thick and thin inspires me. Oh to be as little children! (can you even imagine that kind of world? <3 )
