Steady the Room

Somebody's got to do it

There’s a part of me that feels like I should be doing something very serious right now.

I’ve had people I respect gently suggest that I should use my voice, online and on stage, to speak more directly to what is happening in our country and in our world.

“You should be using your voice right now to speak into everything that’s happening.”

Anyone who spends time with me knows I’m passionate about current events. I don’t hesitate to voice my thoughts and stand by them through my actions. So, believe me when I say that I wrestle with exactly what they’re recommending I should do.

But the truth is, that’s not my lane.

My lane has always been a little different.

I tell stories.

I make people laugh.

I write and sing songs that heal or move people into a better place.

I help people think about their lives, their actual lives, the ones they’re living on a Tuesday afternoon when nothing feels particularly heroic and they are figuring out what to eat for dinner, how they are going to care for their elderly mother, or what they are going to do when they grow up.

We know what’s happening, you don’t need me to rally the cry – just go online or have dinner with friends. I know there is tension, noise, uncertainty…and that everything can start to feel a little heavy all at once.

But I also know this:

Some of us are meant to steady the room.

During some of the hardest moments in history, people didn’t just seek information and rallying cries, they sought relief.

Connection.

A reason to laugh for just a minute so they could catch their breath.

In the middle of World War II, movie theaters filled up.

Comedians stood on makeshift stages for exhausted soldiers.

Not because those things were trivial…

…but because they were necessary.

Because people can’t carry the weight of the world every second of every day.

And I think sometimes we forget that.

We start to believe that if we’re not dumping information into the sea of social media, or fighting with our opponents on what is fact and what is not - we’re not helping.

If we’re not urgent, we’re not relevant.

If we’re not addressing everything, we’re not doing enough.

But for me, what I TRULY believe my purpose is, is helping in a different way.

Making someone laugh again.

Giving people a moment to breathe in the middle of all the noise.

Telling a story that quietly helps someone see their own life a little differently.

Creating and holding space where people feel connected again…instead of overwhelmed, divided, or exhausted.

And most importantly, loving the people I meet. All of them. Every, single, one of them. (Please note, I did not say liking them…I said loving them.)

That’s the work I know how to do.

It may not trend.

It may not argue.

It may not make headlines.

But it matters.

Because the way we show up in our homes, in our relationships, in our everyday conversations…that’s where culture lives.

That’s part of how change happens. It also determines how we come through this moment…and how we meet the next one.

So no, I’m not going to make my friends, who suggested I change my channel, happy.

I will keep showing up in the way I know how. The way I was specifically created to serve this earthly life.

With humor.

With honesty.

With stories and songs.

With love, kindness, and giving

And in times like these, that’s not small work.

That’s necessary work.

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