“Whenever you see darkness, there is extraordinary opportunity for the light to burn brighter.”
– Bono
Last year at this time as we were all grappling with the new realities of quarantines and shutdowns, I found myself thinking about ways we could support each other even if we couldn’t be together in person. I wanted a rallying point to inspire us to reach out to each other with peace, light, compassion and inspiration. An idea that I had years ago about sharing our inner light suddenly bubbled up and was transformed by the need of the crisis we were facing and with the help of the inspirational Mary Anne Em Radmacher and Paul Wesselmann. As we were approaching April 1, 2020, it seemed the perfect time to focus on being All 4/1!
Now that we have been living with the impacts of the pandemic for a year, most of us have taken time recently to reflect upon the last twelve months and the tempests and changes we have moved through during that time, as well as the losses we’ve had to come to terms with. The past year has given us cause to think carefully about what is important to us, who and what are essential in our communities and what we want our lives to look like moving forward.
The real opportunity that lies before us is in the question: “What do we, individually and collectively, want our lives to look like moving forward?” We can decide what we want our “new normal” to be. As we begin to move past the dangers of COVID-19 we can choose to reemerge into the world differently. After all, which of us is the same person we were twelve months ago? So, why should our lives look the same as they did then? With our new perspective on what is important to us, we can reimagine how we engage in the world. We are faced with a unique collective moment when we can create something better from the wisdom we have gained.
What better timing for focusing on uniting to create a better world than a day focused upon being all for one? “All 4/1 Day” began as a way to transform April 1st from a day focused on pranks and embarrassment into a day focused on peace and connection. At the beginning of the pandemic, the thing that seemed most important to me was reaching out to each other in whatever ways we still could and sharing our love, our light and our support. As the year went on and the challenges seemed to mount, “All 4/1 Day” became “All 4/1 All Year” with a new theme shared each month in the All 4/1 Facebook group to help focus the sharing of our light.
Now a full year later, the idea seems more important than ever. I can think of no better way to reimagine our lives, communities and our world than by reaching out to each other with peace, compassion, kindness, inspiration and light. One light in one heart is all it takes to spread light to others.
“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
– Edith Wharton
On April 1, 2021, the invitation is to share your light and/or mirror and amplify the light of others with a focus on these themes:
On “All 4/1 Day” you’re invited to gather in virtual spaces or safe physical spaces and tell stories of choosing peace over pranks; share the ways that you can bring humor without harm; share your visions for a new heart-centered world; share songs or words of encouragement; share inspiring messages in the mail and on social media; share ideas for acts of kindness; share moments of silence and connection. Reach out from the awareness that we are all one. Make a personal commitment to live from the understanding that we create a better world when are All 4/1 and 1/4 All!
On April 1st I will be sharing conversations with three inspiring people who help bring inspiration, hope and light into the world every day: Mary Anne Em Radmacher, Paul Wesselmann, and Sherry Richert Belul! Throughout the day on the All 4/1 Facebook group I will share my conversations with each of them about ways to live with intention, share hope, kindness and light, make ripples and celebrate our lives and the people in them. There will also be a secret mission on “All 4/1 Day” through the Facebook group “Secret Agents of Change” hosted by Sherry and poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. (Click to join “Secret Agents of Change.”)
“To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.
– Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés from “Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times”
Let’s shine brightly on “All 4/1 Day” so that we may illuminate a new world and rekindle the lights of others that have been dimmed by the tempests of the last year. From heart to heart and soul to soul we can pass the flame and shine the way for each other as we reimagine our world, knowing that we burn brighter together!
