We are determined.

“Let us be determined in our commitment to our own hearts. Let us be determined in our commitment to faith. And let us remember that there is something much larger, rooted in love, at play. And that because of that, we will prevail.”

When I feel into what it means to be determined, what comes up is the multitude of movements that continue to shape our global culture and consciousness, and the open-hearted hope required to sustain them.

It reminds me of what drew me to my prior work in advocacy. It was that the work was inherently hopeful. Every action towards change was rooted in the belief that the past (or present) did not dictate what was possible for the future. Whether we were conscious of it or not, we were choosing to believe, every single day, in what we had not yet seen. This takes heart.

So as we watch longstanding institutions impose a backward definition of progress, many who’ve placed those very institutions on a pedestal for years are being forced to interrogate their own hearts. They can no longer outsource to a person in (perceived) power their belief of what is right and true.

The truth is, these institutions were never a reliable source of Truth. Nothing solely rooted in the mind with no consideration of the heart ever is.

True determination is when the heart leads. And as we connect more deeply to our sovereignty, the perception of power held by long standing institutions grows dim. We realize, over time, that the power is no longer theirs, but that of the people, that of the collective heart.

And in order to sustain the relentless rhythm of the collective heart, we must tend to our own.

So let’s do just that. Let us be determined in our commitment to our own hearts. Let us be determined in our commitment to faith. And let us remember that there is something much larger, rooted in love, at play. And that because of that, we will prevail.

*inspired by June 2023 U.S. Supreme Court rulings.