brian shivers

So, here’s the thing - it’s really not too much, but it might just cost us everything - see other people as worthy of love, acceptance, and justice; of kindness, equality, and equity; of peace, compassion, mercy, and the opportunity to thrive. It would truly change everything, if we could start right here. And never forget, we are worthy, too. -bshivers

  Is it their pronouns that frighten you; or the way they speak their new name? Is it the posture of their prayers or how they say the name of the divine or the fact they claim no faith at all? Maybe it’s the land they call home or the fact they had to flee? Their accent, their mother tongue, or their food, their hair, their clothes? Perhaps it’s their love or their gender; their age or the zip code in which they live? It couldn’t be the pigment in their melanin or the jobs that they hold, could it? What is it that frightens you so about these humans   who live in your home, next door,   down the street, across town,   or on the other side of the world? -bshivers

Why love   so much, so deeply, so completely   without barrier, boundary, or condition? What else is there in life? What other cause can change the world? Love is the way. It is the only way. -bshivers

Art   is a mirror reflecting our possibilities and realities, our hopes and dreams, our hatreds and nightmares. Art calls us to remember, to desire, to forget, to reconsider. Art is decried, maligned, hated, misappropriated, desecrated, misrepresented. Art cannot be bought or sold, censored or controlled. And, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, art slowly transforms us from the outside in, from the inside out. -bshivers

Leadership looks like love in action. Leadership is concerned about the lives of others. Leadership sees others. Leadership elevates others. Leadership nurtures the gifts of others. Leadership listens. Leadership accompanies. Leadership inspires. Leadership is kindness. Leadership helps others understand and believe in themselves. -bshivers

 

Listen to the steady beat of your heart. Feel its strength near the center of your chest. Resilience. Power. Life. All found right there one hundred thousand times a day. Don’t give up. -bshivers