Let’s take a moment to “clear the slate.” We’re just going to step back mentally from anything we’ve been working on, anything we’re thinking about, and anything that is generating a lot of emotion. Let’s take three deep breaths in succession and each time we exhale let go of anything on our minds or in our hearts.

Now let’s move our gaze around the space we currently occupy. Whether we are in our home in the company of others, at work surrounded by coworkers, or in a vehicle driving down a shared roadway, let’s just look around us and note the presence of others.

PAUSE

We are seldom truly alone. There may be times when we're not interacting with anyone else, but even then we’re unlikely to be completely isolated. Even if we’re alone in an apartment, we still have people around us—separated only by some thin sheetrock or plaster. Many of us also have the company of a four-legged friend.

So let’s take a minute to consider those around us right now. Presumably, we know little about them as individuals. But that doesn’t change the fact that we know a great deal about them. WE are all made from the same stuff. They trace their beginnings back to where we trace ours. They are granddaughters and grandsons, daughters and sons, mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. And like nearly all the human beings sharing space on this planet, they are engaging life the best they can. We are in this together.

PAUSE

Let’s take another moment to look around. Even if we can’t see them, we are surrounded by others. They are the ones with whom we share our neighborhoods, our town or city, and our roads. For the vast majority of us, these others are usually people. But even in those rare moments when we’re quite a distance from anyone else, we are still surrounded by others. There is life of one type or another all around us all the time. And all of that life shares our origins. All of that life shares in our journey.

When viewed through our ME lens, all the other people and living beings in our orbit are seen in relationship to us. We are the sun around which they circle like planets. When we SHIFT from ME to WE, our perspective broadens until we see everyone in our circle, including us, as moving in concert with each other. We are more like individual stars in a vast galaxy. We are all in this together.

When we SHIFT from ME to WE, the other lives around us are elevated in importance. Through our WE lens, their lives have the same inherent value our life has. We are all part of a great dance whose choreography is far beyond our understanding. We don’t need to understand in order to appreciate. So let’s take in the broader view offered through our WE lens. For the next minute or so, let’s look around appreciatively and take in all those we can see as well as all those who are nearby but out of direct sight.

PAUSE

Wherever we look now, we recognize our fellows. There is no US or THEM. There is only WE. As we scan our surroundings, we smile inwardly (and perhaps outwardly) at every person we see. Life is good! This moment is good! And in this moment, WE embrace life together!