Hello and welcome to another episode of Peace of Mind.
My name's Renee Fesser,
And I'm grateful to be able to share this episode with you.
I wrote the following piece two years ago and I recently found myself returning to it in light of all that is happening in the world today.
When I first wrote it,
I titled it,
Desperately Trying to be Human.
And coming back to it again.
The words feel just as relevant,
Perhaps even more so.
So today,
Tonight,
Wherever you are,
I ask you to reflect on your own human heart.
With kindness and with compassion.
This,
My friends,
Is a prayer.
Meditation for peace.
I want to believe that all of us are desperately trying to be human.
As you listen.
Remember.
You are living on a tiny blue planet.
A tiny mark on the planet Earth.
You are one in billions,
And yet.
You matter.
That sink in.
With an open mind,
Letting go of all that you have downloaded during your lifetime.
Open your heart.
Lately,
The world has been tugging heavily on my heart.
And when this does this,
It tells me something.
Tells me that I might be struggling with some caregiver burnout.
Some empathy fatigue.
So I fill up my cup.
And I search for the good that is in all people.
I dig deep.
I read my favorite writers and I search for a dose of inspiration.
And I watch from a distance as humans.
Do the human things that they do.
And I scroll and I read.
And if my heart becomes heavy.
And remember that war and human suffering are not new stories here on earth.
We fight.
For sometimes ridiculous reasons,
Knowing that wars and genocides are devastating to the entire human race.
Yet humans fight,
We battle the seen and unseen,
We take sides and validate.
Our human experience.
And suffering with vengeance,
Greed,
And the slaughter of innocents.
Well,
What does it mean to be human?
We are meant to step above the evolutionary chain,
And yet we are still animals at best.
All fighting for survival of the species.
We do have a conscious.
Conscience,
Do we not?
We do have intellect and the power to discern and learn.
And if so,
Why do we do the same things again and again,
Struggling in the same ways?
Why do we wage war against humans and deny others their rights?
There is no simple answer,
Is there?
Humans are meant to be humane,
Aren't they?
Aren't we after all?
So yes.
I do believe we are all desperately trying our best to be human.
And we will continue this struggle as we journey here on Earth.
And I ask you to open your heart and mind.
Remember.
Remember,
What is that all about?
What it's all about.
It is about reflecting on your own humanity and the best characteristics of humanity.
The next time you are struggling to forgive,
To have compassion or to love,
Remember this.
All humans come into this world the same way.
We literally come from the same place on this tiny blue planet.
The ingredients to human life are simple,
And yet somehow we have learned to complicate it all.
We can't heal others or the world.
I've tried and so have many others.
What we can do is let go of the lies and the stories we fabricate and justify.
We can start with ourselves.
We can begin with compassion,
Forgiveness,
And love.
And we can wake each day and simply try to be human and embody the tenets of love.
Perhaps we will only truly evolve once we treat all humans as humans.
So today and tonight,
Wherever you are,
May you find peace and sleep with a heart that is unburdened and full of love.
These words come from my own frail,
Poetic heart.
If love moves mountains and prayers heal.
If love moves mountains.
And prayers heal.
I send them both.
On the wings.
Of love.
