“Love even when it means

searching for your heart

knowing it may cower

and can be broken sometimes

feeling it will mend.

Knowing it will mend.”

My friend, Marylou Falstreau, wrote this the other day about broken hearts and it applies in so many ways.

Life itself, can be heartbreaking and full of losses of all kinds.

As I write this, it’s mid-January and the California fires have taken so much from so many.

But that’s not the only way we can suffer a broken heart.

Every day, people’s hearts break for one reason or another.

And while there IS something called broken heart syndrome, where a broken heart can have lasting physical effects, it’s not all that common.

That’s because no matter how badly our hearts are broken, they usually do mend.

They usually do mend enough for us to regain our wits. To regain our functionality in the world around us.

I worry about the people impacted by the fires. Their climb out of this abyss of loss will be difficult. Is difficult.

And when you’ve lost loved ones or pets, it does seem that your heart will never mend.

Some part of it never does. Not really.

But I see many of them them soldiering on.

Despite a broken heart.

This is what life asks of us. That we move through the peaks and valleys and try to make the best of whatever it throws at us.

It can be a challenge.

There are so many ways we can help.

Many of you routinely step up to lend a hand to those in need. We’ve seen that in so many ways these last weeks. I remain inspired by seeing the best of humanity. The heart of humanity.

That’s what I’ll focus on these next four years.