I was having a conversation with one of my best friends the other night about how this year tightened our circle.

I have a deeper desire to stay low-key.

This last year was a true unraveling, revealing characters to their core, and I realized how many want to know just to know. Just to judge. Just to have news to share without having to do their own vulnerable deep dive.

It was an awakening in a lot of ways. But it also radically transformed my heart, because although I’ve never loved gossip, I can’t say I ever intentionally tried to jump ship, or stood up to defend my people when words were rattled off in my presence. And lord knows perfection in this regard is unattainable.

Yet, it’s different now.

Witnessing my best friend navigate a loss that would have left my soul and spirit breathless.

Seeing my baby sister battle through a life-altering procedure with more courage than I have in simple, daily life.

Watching the man I love with my whole being turn adversity into elevating success.

Almost losing my dream to a nationwide crisis I had no choice but to surrender to.

And the list goes on…

It’s simply changed the core of who I am.

It’s made me more compassionate, tightened my circle, and made privacy a core value. But above all, it’s taught me how true it is that in life we never know what another is walking through.

What pain they woke up with that day.

If they dried their eyes one millisecond before walking through my doors.

Or if they have more on their shoulders than they are able to carry.

This world is hard, y’all. And as much as social media loves to give us a front-row seat to business that isn’t ours to have our nose in, it’s vital that we check ourselves.

No matter how vulnerable we may be in this space—we don’t truly know what it’s like to live anyone else’s life.

So mind your own damn business and be kind.

Life is just too short—too sacred, too unique to each of us—to spend one minute of it in criticism.

Because there’s something we can learn from everyone’s way of being, if only we are brave enough to humble ourselves.

~