On Love:

I walk in and am completely overwhelmed by the amount of people packed together in this one very large lobby. There’s a DJ, a man painting a mural while standing on a scissor lift, and all types of people who look like they’re important, and they have style. The influencer and young new money entrepreneur types. I’m in downtown Portland in the Weiden and Kennedy building for the launch of the “Portland Is What We Make It” campaign. Created to inspire Portlanders to deeply care about the city again despite the challenges it’s faced. I feel very out of place and am lucky to have a close friend I can talk to who is running the event. An hour later, I’m standing underneath the Burnside Bridge in Portland talking with a man named Tony who is an immigrant from Mexico and who is living on the streets of Portland. We laugh as we talk about our different experiences growing up in California. He tells me about his family and how he doesn’t ask any of them for help because he knows he can make it on his own. I’m with a group called NightStrike who serves meals and provides basic services for people who are houseless in Portland. A thought occurs to me - every person under that bridge and every person at that launch event needs love. It doesn't matter how much or how little we have, we all have the desire within us to love and be loved.

On Justice:

Imagine we’re all running a race called Life. Some people get to start ahead in the race, others have starting points much further behind. The people who have come before us have designed the race and who gets to start ahead and who must start behind. Once the race begins, those who start ahead continue to receive advantages that keep them ahead. Those who start behind face barriers keeping them from catching up. When those of us who are ahead see the people who have stumbled or haven’t caught up yet, are we justified in blaming them for the decisions they’ve made when they started out behind in the first place? Who’s fault is it that they’re still behind? What happens when we forget the race was unfair to start with? Whose responsibility is it to change the race to allow people to start on more equal footing?

On Generosity:

A question for the day:

• Where did you start in the race of life?

Resource of the Week:

One of the best card games ever invented:

• UNO

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,