I had the opportunity to attend a Born This Way Foundation event on the NYC Ferry recently! I met the coolest people, which was not a surprise to me—as we are all clearly connected by our love for Gaga and the Born This Way Foundation. The conversations flowed so seamlessly, as we shared where we are from, what we do, and our life experiences that shaped us into being such a dedicated, solid fan-base (Gaga’s little monsters). ✌🏼

I heard and felt the excitement in their voices as they shared their past concert experiences, as well as their plans to see her at Madison Square Garden later that night. Such fun-loving, down to earth people I met on this random Saturday afternoon on a boat.

Importance of fostering a sense of community

As a mental health therapist, I reflected on this event- focusing on the true importance of having a sense of community. Maintaining current relationships and cultivating new ones is incredibly important for one’s mental health. Human beings are interconnected and have depended on one another since the beginning of time. I encourage you, the reader, to enrich your life by keeping good people around you. You want people who fill your cup, not drain it. Be around people who want the best for others and cheer you on. Most importantly, surround yourself with people who embrace you for who you are, including all of your quirks. If we want to be accepted, we must also accept others. I know I have certain people in my life who I can share quite literally anything to, and they will love and embrace me the same. Every human being deserves this dynamic with at least one person in their life. If you don’t have that at this moment in time, have faith that it’s out there. The more I get out of my comfort zone and interact with different people, the more I realize this to be true. Maybe this blog will inspire you to put yourself out there and find your people, whether that be at a work-out studio, book club, sports team, theatre group, etc.

Let’s make a kinder, braver world together 

At the event, we all wrote some kind phrases on post-it notes. It made me happy to see people collectively focusing on just simply being nice. We all have such busy lives and oftentimes go about our days overlooking the importance of doing small acts of kindness. Even just simply holding a door open for someone, buying a person’s coffee in front of you, telling someone you like their shirt, can have positive benefits. People tend to feel good about themselves when they can also make others feel good! (aka prosocial behavior- psychology term 😉)

So, I challenge you to say or do one kind action for someone else. You may not know who could be having a tough day and particularly appreciate your kind words or actions.

It’s not possible to create a kinder, braver world on our own. Let’s do it all together ☮️