The most radical and effective form of protest and resistance
March 28, 2026
I was riding my bike a few days ago on the Rio Grande Trail, wearing a buff to cover my face from the wind and dust from this “winter.” A buff, or something like it, is also what the ICE officers wear when they are out patrolling. I am not sure why they do it, but it seems to shield many of them from relating and connecting to fellow human beings.
I felt how powerful this thin piece of fabric covering my face was when I passed two particularly joyful bikers on the trail. These two older-than-me, maybe-more-than-middle-aged people were literally beaming at me with wide, welcoming smiles. I usually always smile and acknowledge people I pass on the trail, but with the buff, I don’t bother because they can’t see the smile or likely hear me. I actually felt a physical pain in my body not being able to smile back and acknowledge these two elated e-bikers who were clearly having the time of their life.
We are wired to connect as humans. It is essential to our survival as some controversial, yet pivotal early studies proved with primates and orphans who were fed yet ignored and denied comfort, companionship and love, and exhibited severe mental health disorders and even died as a result in some cases. Anyone with a kid knows about mirror neurons and knows that when you smile and coo at your baby they imitate you and smile and coo back a lot of the time. And, sometimes they just scream, but usually they imitate you. And, if you give them the still face, like no emotion or feedback, as cited in another well known study, they really go nuts. They. Do. Not. Like. That.
We are all, always, mirroring each other. I actually did smile under my buff when these two playful, pedaling people passed me. I couldn’t help it. Their smiles were infectious! They didn’t see it, but I felt it, and it was a big relief to me. I cannot not smile when someone is genuinely smiling at me. That goes for kindness, too. I can rarely be unkind to someone who is genuinely being kind to me. I sure can be defensive, obtuse, righteous, defiant, angry and rageful, though, if someone is being that way with me.
Staying kind and choosing love alongside my dear friend, Elisa Bava
So, my hypothesis is that one of the most powerful ways to protest the current administration and what feels like extraordinary cruelty, violence, oppression, hypocrisy and nepotism is to stay kind. To stay curious. To continue to protect each other and love our neighbors as ourselves, regardless of where they come from. I love immigrants. I am not a fan of rapists or criminals of any nationality, especially those in positions of power.
We the people are inherently good. As my friend Jayne often says in her fabulous yoga classes at Aspen Shakti, there are as many versions of truth out there as there are perceivers. And, there are a whole lot of perceivers in the world. I don’t think I am ever going to convince someone that they are wrong and I am right; I am only going to perpetuate a war by thinking that way. I have to get over my own hypocrisy and stop disparaging the “other.” If I am for peace, I must not engage in war of any kind.
What I am going to do is be kind. I am going to believe in the inherent goodness of all beings, and I am going to find that in myself each day so I can mirror it to others, and maybe, just maybe, they will imitate me just because that is what we are wired to do. I hope I can do it. And I hope you can, too, because I’m going to need a clear reflection out there amidst a whole lot of distortion. Like attracts like. Can we be the love, kindness and care we wish to see in the world?
This post originally appeared in my monthly column in The Aspen Times.
