Light & Dark

Yesterday I woke up to the news that Cory Monteith, one of the stars of the hit TV series Glee, was found dead in his hotel room. My family and I are huge fans of Glee and have so appreciated all the messages this transformative show has created for our world. I am simply in shock that something like this happens to such a talented soul. My heart is heavy with this news.

Meanwhile, this is in such contrast to the news generated by Steve Grand’s new country music video that went viral on July 4 and has now been viewed over 1.3 million times. The courage of this guy to create his music video after being shamed and simply told to go away is deeply inspiring.

And then the Trayvon Martin verdict certainly activates many emotions.

I am in that place where I feel deeply today the fragility of the human condition -the pain and sadness of our dark side and the thrill and inspiration of our light side.

From all of these events, I just feel today how much we need each other and how much we must reach out and ask for help. We must know that we are not alone in any of this – this thing called life.

What help do you need to reach out and ask for today?

8 Comments

  • Suparna Reply

    Hi Rick,

    This is such an important message through all of this. That we are not alone. Thank you for sharing that.

    Love, Suparna

  • Lisa Friedlander Reply

    Dear Rick

    Thanks for sharing. Humanity can be very challenging but also at times surprising and comforting. Reaching out to trusted supporters is essential. Take care.

    By

    • Rev Alice L. Coles Reply

      Hi Rick:
      As a minister, I have practiced to shine light to any presence of darkness. Concerning the Trayvon Martin verdict & what message
      did it send out to the nation, community and to his family; I quickly concluded that the verdict was merely a bell and whether we speak of cold blooded murder, hate crimes, or our own justice system; I speak as John Donne, ..”any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”
      Now for my bigger game expo friends, If we are made to cry; remember what Lynne Twist told us in her presentation (The power of taking a stand) that “Tears waters the Soul”. So as we give our ideas please lace them with Love, Peace and Hope and know that Ideas are funny things, Invisible and weightless, they have no material substance, yet they have the power to change the course of history.
      Beloved, Let us change this thing call Life to a Better Life.
      Prayerfully yours
      (A Better Life Ministry)

  • M. T. Chamblee Reply

    It would have been better for you not to have mentioned the Trayvon Martin verdict in this post, Rick. You lead with the death of young Cory Monteith, which yes, was quite sad. And while tragic and perhaps millions of Glee fans will mourn his loss, it pales in comparison (no pun intended) with the magnitude of the trauma and drama caused by the profiling, stalking, and killing of an unarmed 17 year old African American boy and the impact and implications of the acquittal of his killer. Yes indeed it “activates many emotions.” I don’t have the energy to address all the reasons why it would have been better to stick with Cory Monteith’s death and leave Trayvon Martin out of your post. Let me leave it at this: you are a well-respected and effective trainer and speaker on leadership and self-empowerment. Stick with what you know and do well and please don’t add, almost as an afterthought, a one liner on a matter as complex and nationally significant as the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case. Perhaps sometime when I am less exhausted from working to make the world a more hopeful and less dangerous for young Black children like Trayvon Martin, like my son and my nephews, you and I can have a conversation about all of this. It is not my intention to sound harsh. As always I wish you all good things in the work that you’re doing. Even all those years ago back at the MotherTree, I wish you had understood mine better. Be well.

  • Stacey H Reply

    Thanks for reaching out when your heart is heavy…and for providing all of us with the opportunity to exercise our human condition together. We are, indeed, in this all together. God bless!

  • Lisa the Eccentric Reply

    Firstly I do not know the person who wrote the long email about Rick’s choice to post subjects and I know it is unproductive to simply address that post but I did want to make note that it hit me in a very negative place and made me personally feel somewhat unsafe to post and share genuine thoughts for fear of being chastised in that manner. Having said that … and hopefully lifting the lid as we were taught to do and recover quickly and come back to where I was when i read the original post 🙂
    Rick … thank you for sharing your humanity and continually role modelling the importance of vulnerability in important relationships. I too feel impacted by the fragility of our lives and those around us. I hear your championing the importance of reaching out and asking for help ,,, for me (and many people I have talked to who are working on strengthening this muscle) my ability to trust reaching out rests heavily on some form of acknowledgement for having done that … eg: “get u are reaching out but am too busy to help right now” or “I hear you … don’t give up” etc.
    Would love to hear from others who have a hard time reaching out on this
    subject 🙂
    Again thanks Rick for reaching out and championing us to ask for what we need.

    xo

  • Mike Halsey Reply

    Thank you, Rick.

    And yes, if we could all nurture an appetite for connection, curiosity and oneness of spirit, it might just draw us away from our seeming addiction to fear, anger and judgement (including/especially the self-directed versions thereof.)

    “How may I help?” always seems to be a great place to start.
    🙂
    Mike

  • Linda Reply

    Rick:

    Thank you for voicing the emotions that are clearly in the space these days. There’s some serious soul work going on in the world creating noticing, activation, and action.

    I was really touched by the president’s talk, in which he seemed to be in a stream of consciousness with us, wondering and rifting on some of the same thoughts we have. Unprecedented. Naming what’s in the room. How powerful is that!

    Asking for help: there’s a (very corporate) expression that people ask for help (aka call into a service organization or call center) because 1) they believe you care, and 2) because they believe you can do something about it. So, taking that to a human expression, asking for help is a show of faith. Maybe I don’t know you, and I’m believing that you care about me because we are all one; maybe I don’t know you, and I’m believing that you’ll reach out to help me because we are all one.

    And sometimes, us asking first, “How may I help?” is just what someone needs to learn that even if you don’t ask, I am here for you.

    much love to you, Rick!

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