[What a joy to circle up on a follow-up call with many of you today, on "What Would Love Do?" Below are are some follow-ups!]



Dear Friends,

Thank you for an insightful conversation on "What Would Love Do?" in this global pandemic. It was a real array of so many rich insights across timezones -- from UK to Central America; France to Romania; New York to California to India and beyond!

To continue the conversation, a few follow-ups...

• Recordings: To soak insights in further, you can access the audio and video recordings of the call, at those links.

• Your Ideas: To further support your ripples and efforts, we'd love for you to answers couple questions!

• Online Feed: We've setup an online space specifically for this topic, where you can post your ideas, stories, photos, and also interact with each other further: Join Here.

Thank you again for co-creating such a meaningful dialogue.

In the opening panel, various "love warriors" across the globe spoke on the challenges and opportunities of "the new normal" (as Ward dubbed) of these unprecedented days. "What breaks your heart, and what gives you hope?" Jane and I invited.

Kicking off the shares, journalist and media producer Sallyann in London noticed: "I started to feel at home in this coronavirus, because neighbors started coming together -- the unconditional love emerging has been a joy to behold." After the passing of her friend 88-year-old Harry, she reflected, "How to strike a balance between being rooted in the present while also proactively responding and contributing to the pressing needs of society at this time?" Systems innovator David in Costa Rica wondered how to inspire systems of selfless love -- of "hypercollaboration" -- in these times: "When you have a social network in which actions and contributions are motivated by love, then all of the other motivations that make us raise questions or have doubts about whether we should or shouldn't do something, just evaporate. Contributions can flow in a way where remarkable innovations can emerge." Community builders Olivier and Jasky in France offered insights from Day 15 of lockdown. "Compassion comes from a place of stillness." "How can we channel our energy to serve others from where we are?" The described heartfelt virtual efforts to that end. Educator Marius in Romania quoted an elder's wisdom "One of the best strategies to handle any situation is to keep showing up with an open heart." With his elementary classes moved virtual, new creative ways of showing up for his students have surfaced -- including real-time acts of kindness in online class! Lara in NYC (a city that accounts for 40 percent of US coronavirus cases!) echoed the same phenomenon of gratitude to healthcare workers that Sallyann witnessed in London: "I heard clapping for two minutes straight on Friday night." She narrated potential shifts in our social systems, from evolutions in supply chain to the swing back to localism; from rise in conscious consumption to deliberate ways of gathering; from prison reform to heightened collective sensitivity: "How do we value the weakest among us?"

With so many perspectives swirling across airwaves, we dove into smaller breakout conversations and closed with a panel of "wisdom perspectives". Stephanie in Los Angeles, a mindfulness teacher (whose brain's been studied by Harvard!), she described the practical ways our body posture affects the release of chemicals that correspond to certain moods and emotions. Ward, an educational visionary and co-founder of a retreat center and community in California, offered artistic field notes :), observing: "We are in such good company ... With compassionate action, perhaps the new normal will be the future we want to live into."

With so much brimming over in our 90+ minutes together, we soaked it all in with a minute of silent gratitude, and waved goodbyes (and wished Happy Birthday to Mandy! :)). "Beyond like-minded, we are like-hearted," Stephanie had shared.

Stepping into the "new normal" of the unknown days that lay ahead, we can't help but be buoyed by the collective wisdom of our "like-heartedness".

Thank you, for your kindred holding of shared values. We look forward to seeing what love will do. :)

With Gratitude,

Bijan, Jane, Dustin, Preeta, Audrey, Liz, Helen, Pragalbha, Bradley and many more :)

PS: For more, you can tune into audio and video recordings of the conversation.