33voices 33Voices

 “We’ve really become something quite special. I think at the time of my death, I will remember you.” 
My eyes filled with tears when The Dalai Lama said this to Archbishop Desmond Tutu during their last conversations captured in Mission: Joy. 
They center on the concept of Ubuntu that the Archbishop describes — “We can only be human together.” — and awaken us to our belonging to the human family. Ubuntu not only reflects how we contribute to each other’s vitality. It illuminates how caring for each other elevates our own. 
This week, we have the gift of meeting Peggy Callahan, producer and co-director of Mission: Joy: the documentary that invites us to the Holy brothers’ table. As a human rights activist, whose teams at Voices4Freedom and Free the Slaves have helped free over 15,000 people, she embodies the values they discuss. 
Peggy’s stories about people overcoming unimaginable trauma and dedicating their lives to helping others reflect our innate nature to support each other in achieving our shared human freedoms and desires. Her’s is driven by an unreasonable love. 
“Unreasonable love is that force that compels you, sustains you, and inspires you to keep moving when the journey ahead feels too hard,” she says. “We all have something we really care about, want to change, create, or learn.” 

“Have you ever had that sense of: ‘I’ve got to go back!’?
If you ever hear ‘Turn around’ inside, do it! That’s the universe telling you: You missed something good back there.” 
Acclaimed illustrator Wendy MacNaughton heeded that call when she passed a boot making workshop on a road trip. In sharing the unforgettable friendship that transpired, she invites us to pause and truly see each other. 

“Letting go gives us freedom and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If in our heart we still cling to anything — anger, anxiety, or possessions — we cannot be free.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
This week, we’re looking at letting go through the lens of forgiveness. In sharing her courageous journey forgiving her father, Dr.Michele Harper illuminates that forgiveness not only offers us peace in the present. It becomes a compass to live in pursuit of it. 

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique…It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.” — Revered Choreographer Martha Graham
This week, Bob Roth shares how we can keep the channel open. Renowned Transcendental Meditation teacher and CEO of The David Lynch Foundation, he’s learned that creativity isn’t as mysterious as it seems. Instead, it flourishes in “the genius lounge:” a network in our brain he introduces us to in this snippet. 

In this episode snippet, pilates and wellbeing leader Erika Bloom illuminates our body's quest for equilibrium and invites us to approach the balance question from a new lens. 
What is one signal your body is giving you this week? How might you slow down and listen to it? 
 

“In the moment of pause, there is something sacred.” 
This week, we’re excited to share an invitation to pause and appreciate the beauty around us from Reverend Jen Bailey, Founder of Faith Matters Network and Co-founder of The People’s Supper. 
What feels sacred to you? How might you pause to honor it this week?