I joined the rest of the United States in mourning the children slaughtered in Florida on Valentine's Day.  I cried for the lives that were lost.  I cried for their families.  And I cried for all of us living in a country with leaders too scared or selfish to admit the need for real-world changes.

It's easy to slip into despair.  

But this week, a new artist in my building brought me a honeydew melon that he carved.  It was heart-wrenchingly beautiful.  And in the wake of what happened this week, the gesture tugged extra hard at my heart-strings.  "How could something so beautiful exist in such a wretched world?" I thought. Then it dawned on me:

The world is--in fact--beautiful. 

Now I'm no fool: I know the world is full of harmful people of things that we must combat.  We need to organize and demand change.  We need to make our voices loud and our actions louder as we fight AGAINST what we know is wrong. 

But let's not forget what we're fighting FOR.

It's a small change in semantics, but it makes a big difference in how we go about doing things.  If we focus on what we hate, it makes us angry, reactive, and short-sighted.  If we focus on what we want, it makes us focused, driven, and future-oriented.  This week, I'm going to try to work harder on being the latter.

So Reader, what's your prize?  Mine is a world where a man named Lincoln can safely and happily carve fruits into flowers.  I hope you've got your eyes on a good prize this week.  I'll see you next Sunday. -Em