Welcome all you beautiful people! I am the facilitator of this newly minted website you currently have open on your screen. Thank you for giving my first “publication” a bit of time out of your busy day.
I have wanted for many years to communicate with the world through stories, interviews, art and poetry but have never produced enough of any of these things to justify creating something like a blog or book. I am a mother of three. I am self employed. I have a house, a garden and animals to take care of. How could I ever find enough time to create enough content to be anywhere near relevant?
Well, a few months ago I had a paradigm shift. When Covid-19 came around and rocked our world I started to see so much fear. Fear became anger and anger became outright hatred. As all of us have, I began seeing people I thought highly of become people I hardly knew within a matter of days. One day, after being yelled at by someone at the grocery store, I found myself saying something I had heard over and over: “I am not scared of this virus. I am scared of what people are becoming. I am truly disappointed in people right now.” Later that day, I saw a friend on social media posting about how disappointed she was in people. I noticed people all over expressing their distaste and fear. It hit me: WE NEED TO CHANGE THIS NARRATIVE. I quickly got on my own social media accounts and made the following statement:
“Hello everyone! I have noticed something. I’ve said it and now I have heard everyone I know say it: “I’m not so afraid of the virus, I am afraid of what people are doing to one another.” So here’s the thing, I am trying to stop that pattern for myself and I urge you to do so as well. Yes, it’s frustrating that people are hoarding essentials. It disappoints us to know people can be so selfish. But remember, they are acting in fear. When we talk about how afraid we are of how people are behaving we are also acting in fear. I am not saying we should carelessly write this situation off. I am staying home as much as I can and I encourage others to as well. I am saying that resisting this reality, allowing ourselves to be afraid of one another is breeding that same fear that causes people to harm one another. We need to stop focusing on the people with rooms full of toilet paper and start remembering that we are all human. We are all in this together. Even if it’s only by praying for one another we need to be lifting each other up! Wash your hands, don’t touch your face, stay home when you can and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBORS FOR GOD’S SAKE.
That being said, I have seen people sharing essentials, providing advice, mothers pumping extra milk for mothers who are unable to produce for their babies, people shopping for elderly neighbors who should stay home, etc. I’d love to see what other stories of kindness people have.”
That day, I took a personal pledge to spread positivity. To love and to not to fear. I began to tell everyone “We are all in this together.” and asking “How can I help you”. I began gathering stories and hearing what people have faced in their lives. I knew that this was a universal suffering, but individually we are all dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak and all its implications on top of the regular challenges of our everyday lives. We are truly in this together.
That understanding, that we are all one-however divided we become-is the belief I finally put into practice when I started putting together this blog. I finally understood that this could be bigger than me-that I am neither qualified nor desiring to run an entire blog on my own. What I needed was a group of beautiful, talented people that want to spread love.
This project is what I am calling a community blog. Driven by the creators and the audience, writers, artists, poets, film makers and musicians are invited and encouraged to join in to share as long as their work aligns with our common goal. We are focused on positivity and problem solving. The goal is to unify with love in a world divided by hate.
I am not the publisher, the editor (although we do have editors), the boss, or the queen. I honestly wouldn’t even call myself the facilitator. I am just a person who knows how to put together a website and run an office. I am the office assistant, the guide, the friend with random skills. I am here to help spread positivity.
I hope you enjoy this first “issue” and of course the blog in its entirety. I hope it inspires you to take positive action in your community as well. If you would like to contribute, please email us at info@mindtravelers.org.
Mind Travelers is a community blogging project. We publish articles about creative subjects such as art, social issues, positivity and philosophy. We are located in Montrose, Colorado and work with contributors all over the Western Slope. For more information, to submit a story or to advertise with us, please email us at info@mindtravelers.org.