Hey, happy Monday. I wanted to shoot you a quick video. I also I've got some notes so I don't forget what I want to say here. So when you see me looking around, that's what I'm doing. I was with a young mother yesterday who was, you how do I raise three kids like to have a lot of joy in their lives and not have the current mess that's going on, wreck their childhoods and

It reminded me of, and we had that conversation. It reminded me though of this essay that has been really sitting with me. asks, know, where did all the fun and the joy and the warmth go? And it listed what's missing in our current White House, laughter, pets, music, images of families being human together. And it really hit me this morning as I'm sort of rolling those two together that

Warmth isn't a weakness, know, it's a stabilizer. And when warmth disappears, I think things become wobbly and chaotic. There's a line from, think it was a podcast that I saw a number of months ago, like probably November, and I can't shake it. I'm gonna just read it to you and make sure you don't get it right. Don't get it wrong. You know you are living in a fascist society when you are constantly going over in your head.

the reasons why you are safe, right? It implies that you know that others aren't safe. that's, think, exactly what happens when the collective warmth begins to disappear, like people isolate and they self-monitor, they hold back, they stop extending to one another because the world feels dangerous. There's a FMRI study that

I really like sharing the results. The research participant is a wife and she has her foot is bricked with a little pin. And when that happens in the MRI, there's a little pain spike. And then they switch it up and they have the husband be with her. And if this is the first pain spike, this is the second one. Without him, with him, without him, with him. In other words,

Even in the brain, warmth mitigates pain. know, connection warmth mitigates pain. Lately, there's been a little bit of stabilizing love playing out on the streets, I think. You know, ordinary citizens are running, you know, out into the streets, you know, questioning the arrest or abduction, some people are saying, of people.

without due process, by people who are in masks, who knows who they are as officials. so, I mean, strangers locking arms, filming, bearing witness, that's not chaos. That's a society that's remembering itself. It's remembering itself. So.

That kind of visible warmth, you know, I can see you, you're not alone. I think that's what keeps the culture human, people being kind and connected and warm to each other. So, in this wackadoodle world we're currently in, hold the ones you love close and hold the others also close. Connection is stability. As always, will you please share this video with someone that you care about who you think might find this helpful? Thank you.