A blog shared by my mentor, Kay Taylor

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”

— Dalai Lama XIV from The Art of Happiness

Love and compassion are core spiritual principles. I remember reading years ago that it’s best to work on compassion because most humans aren’t up to the task of unconditional love, so compassion would have to be a good start.

I’ve been reflecting on this as the word “care” has come into my view in the past week. Like 11:11 or 333 in everything we see, this simple word—care—is going viral.

Perhaps this is all we’re capable of. Maybe we start here.

Because if I look through the news headlines, hate, struggle and polarization are holding us in a steely grip.

Sociologists tell us not to worry because human biology is attuned to bad news so we’re ignoring all the improvements and positivity.

I agree with this. As the old paradigm struggles and falls, there are amazing forward leaps.

Not fast enough for my taste, but still I breathe into each moment and accept with gratitude the many social, spiritual and personal leaps of consciousness we see each day.

The concept of care was demonstrated beautifully in a recent post on BoredPanda, where a non-binary model calmed and opened and mind of an angry (and frightened) parent whose teen wanted a chest binder.

I find this same melting and opening to the heart though the psychosynthesis process work I guide for others, and do for myself on a regular basis.

When we approach our closed and angry parts with care and curiosity, they shift, change, dissolve…

Perhaps compassion is a stretch in some circumstances. Definitely unconditional love for all takes more than a few years of spiritual practice.

So I’m holding a vision we can all surrender to the concept of care:

Self-Care
Care for our environment, personal and the planet
Care for those around us, those we know and those we don’t

Choosing care as a core philosophy can open windows, soften resistance, and perhaps guide us into deeper levels of compassion and love.

I agree that our survival is at stake.