Many of my conversations lately eventually land on the fracturing of our civility, freedom, and environmental safety. We are distressed. New outrage on a daily basis is leading to a state of perma-crisis.

A thread that runs through it all is a sense of powerlessness. We imagine that we have no control over the higher-level decisions being made and we hope that some equally large entity will swoop in a save us. News flash: no one is coming. We will have to save ourselves.

It’s true that few of us have power on a state or federal level. It’s equally true that most of us have power on a smaller scale. We can create unity, for example, on a local level. Wherever we live we can greet both our neighbors and any strangers we meet with Love. We can create solidarity through compassionate action. We can work to support our communities. As long as we keep it small and simple, we can be effective.

This is not something we do with our head, with our intellect. It requires that we shift our energy towards the things we can control: our own feelings, attitudes, and how and what we communicate. It’s something we do through the vibrations we embody. You can tell, through their energy, whether someone is embodying Love, can’t you? They can tell if you are too.

As more people create local circles of compassion and unity, we have the opportunity to join them into larger and larger circles. The fracturing of communities is part of what has brought us to this moment. Rebuilding them is part of what will bring us out of it.

You are powerful.