120 | How Pain Can Expand Our Love

Hello beautiful humans,

The past three days, I’ve had the immense joy to be at Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, CO. It’s currently 10:10pm, and I’m actually writing to you from Telluride as I end my final full day here before heading home tomorrow.

I first came to this film festival in 2019. I came as a volunteer and car camped to make it happen. I intended to come again in 2020, but the festival went online due to COVID. When it came back on my radar this year, there were many obstacles to attending, but it felt important to go be around other creative and like-hearted people, so I found a way.

It’s hard to put into words how incredible these past days have been, except to say I experienced more kismet moments than can be explained, and that there is so much power in sharing our stories with each other, be it on screen or off.

I had so many beautiful conversations with people, but one theme popped up a number of times, and I witnessed it in many of the films as well. It was the truth that if we’re willing to feel into our pain (as we have capacity and support to do so), it widens our ability to love.

Experiencing something expands who you are and what you know of the world, and experiencing pain has the potential to also expand us in how we extend love from that pain we’ve known. It doesn’t justify the pain or difficult things happen to us, but when we are able to speak and move from the fullness of what we’ve experienced in life, we’re able to bring so much more compassion and understanding to how we interact with people and move about the world.

Whatever you’re holding in life these days,
sending lots of love your way,
Shel