Some days we need to smile more than others

Given what's happened in the last few hours in France, the temptation to write something on the lines of feeling crushed and saddened are there. It's a natural reaction... and one I don't want to follow today.

Today is another day and although compassion is definitely necessary at this time and sadness can and will happen, it's our opportunity to be a little kinder to other people close by. To show manners, to show that humanity has plenty of good to offer. Today is a day to find out the facts in your chosen news source but not consume obsessively and here's why: on a day as awful as yesterday and also today, news coverage gets every incentive to cover the worst of what humanity has to offer because ratings feed on fear.

I rarely watch the news not because I particularly enjoy being out of the loop but because most places feed you the worst stories possible because it's what gets watched the most.

Even right now, it's within us not to watch incessantly and there's another reason for that... it's exactly what the people who did this don't want. If you watch the news, let it be to inspire you to go to France when things settle down. And things will settle down, a wise man once said of good and bad that "this too shall pass" and indeed, even something as awful as what is happening shall pass.

Today is a beautiful day. Let nothing distract you from this fact. It's a day where you should love a little harder, be a lot more generous, have your manners up and about and show that we can choose to react to horror and terror with kindness, a smile, and light.

Right now, there is a lot of fear and sadness. People are putting up pictures of candles as a sign of solidarity but they put a solemn tone to those images, because they focus on the sadness rather than the miracle of a single candle light.

Within a sea of darkness, one ray of light can light up the world.

There is a need for light and we are invited to share our inner fire if only to show that we can overcome whatever dark life throws our way.

Peace, love, and baguettes.