On Love:

I’m sure you’ve at one point another heard the phrase, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But what happens if I don’t love myself very much? What then? At various points in our lives we are all influenced by self-doubt, negative thinking, and questioning our worth. Maybe the best way to love people better is to start with loving ourselves. One of my morning routines is reading affirmations to myself. I stare at myself in the mirror and read a sticky note with affirmations of who I am and aspirations of who I want to become. It takes about two minutes and reminds me of my worth. I read them even when I don’t feel like it or believe them. My capacity to love others is limited by the love I have for myself. By growing our love for ourselves, we grow our love for others.

On Justice:

This week I went on a walking tour about gentrification through the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. The nonprofit I work for is expanding to the state to help transform the foster care system and I had the opportunity to come and capture some foster care stories through video. We went on the tour to learn more about the city we’ll be working in. A Black man named Samson, walking backwards with a mic connected to his ear, told us about a street called Indiana Avenue. Once a cultural hub of Black people, Black businesses, and Black excellence, was now reduced to parking lots, new luxury apartment buildings, a new affluent university, and very few Black people. Hearing him speak reminded me of the pattern of gentrification in cities all across the country where new targeted investments in Black communities are meant to displace the people there and attract more affluent, and often white, people to those areas. Without Samson, we wouldn’t have known about the deep, rich history of Black people on that street. The experience made me curious to learn more about the Black history of where I’m from and also the Native American history that I was never taught. Let’s dig it up and learn. We might be surprised by what we find.

On Generosity:

32 people raised over $6,000 for this year’s “It Takes a Village” Scholarship. My siblings and I created the scholarship out of the belief that every kid regardless of their background should be able to pursue higher education, if they so choose. The criteria has been for students who identify as Black and/or students who have spent any time in the foster care system - mirroring my siblings and I’s experiences. This year instead of giving three students $1,000 each, we have awarded four scholarships in the amount of $1,500 because of people’s incredible generosity. This year’s recipients are named Aniyah, Isaiah, Keyana, and Fatimah. Their stories are powerful and they have big dreams. For those who gave, thank you for investing in them and their futures. Next year, we plan to double the amount we gave for 2023 - more to come.

A question for the day:

• What is one way you can show some extra love to yourself today?

Resource of the Week:

A book about the whimsical nature of loving your neighbor well. Has a firm place on my list of favorite books.

• Love Does - Bob Goff

If you know of anyone who might be interested in taking this journey towards more Love, more Justice, and more Generosity in their own life and in the world, please send them this link which will allow them to sign up (or copy and send: https://ljg.beehiiv.com/subscribe).

Thank you for being here.

With Love, Justice, and Generosity,

Michael Larson