The children in this book are refugees, child soldiers, victims of war, immigrants, and just plain kids. Even in the midst of mind-numbing destruction the hope in so many of their young eyes is their gift to us. They nourish themselves with gratitude for the smallest things, yet we take so much for granted in our everyday lives.

Even before COVID-19 our connections had too often deteriorated into sentence fragments and snapshots that bounce around the electronic ether and dissolve into piles of useless nothing. Without authentic connection we lose the primal part of ourselves – the part that makes us human and most fully alive.

Microscopic cells travel on the wind and find their way inside us to our most vulnerable center. It is at the same time too small and too big to truly comprehend.

Whether it is a virus, the environment, or the way we treat one another we understand more than ever how radically interconnected we are.

Now get out of our center you terrible virus, we need to fill that space with gratitude for everyday things and kindness for ourselves and for others.

 

With respect for our collective vulnerability and enthusiasm for our potential,

Bobby