I've started and stopped a hundred drafts of this week's letter. It's hard to write about the mundanely good moments of life when there's a fire ripping across a city filled with people I love so much.

I keep imagining my last business trip to L.A. It was the day of Kobe Bryant's funeral. The traffic was insane (it always is), but there was a traffic jam on the streets, too. All these people coming together to honor this man and the legacy he left on a city with a population larger than most states. 

I imagine the highways that take people to the skyscrapers that line downtown are mostly empty right now. Forget return to office. Folks are trying to figure out their future and resources for the next minute at the same time. Work life balance is always laughable, but in the face of a tragedy that has impacted a community so broadly it's simply unreasonable to think of the two as equal.  

Tragedy makes this lack of a distinction more clear, but we bump into people on the street every day that are choosing between work and life. We have no idea they're deciding between gas and something to eat. If they can get an unpaid day to go to a funeral. Everyone is facing really big things, a lot of which we can't see at a glance. Especially when it comes to choosing to prioritize the problems that are right in front of them and the ones that happen at work. 

So, maybe today we can put an end to this talk of balance. To stop pretending all things are made equal. Let's make the effort to evolve into the kind of leaders who give their team autonomy and continuous support instead of looking for a policy to protect a rule made up by someone we don't even know. We can be the balance instead of trying to force an unrealistic vision of it. 

A Special P.S.

As I scrolled the pictures of the devastation in LA, the burned down homes were interrupted by clips of people doing good. Parking lots full of everything people could need and more. Lists of places where displaced people and first responders could get a free meal. We’re thousands of miles away watching as a community cares for each other through mutual loss. As much as it broke my heart, it made me want to do something with the resources I have, too. 

How do we keep the good going - in our neighborhood and the world? We give. 

No matter how much - big or small - let’s give a little to those people who are trying to figure a lot out this week. Here are a few causes my family will be supporting as this community begins the healing process: 

• StevenCapleJr on Instagram is helping displaced families. Donate here.  
• KristinaHoyerCoaching is helping to relieve some of the pressure on animal shelters by gathering resources and fostering some dogs. Donate here. 
• If you're not on Instagram but want to donate, BuyMeACoffee. I'll match whatever you give, dividing it between these two folks trying to do some good. 
• Antirecidivism.org supports incarcerated fire crews that are working to fight the fires. Money will go towards supplies, scholarships for a Firefighter and Reentry program, and their commissary accounts.
• Union Station Homeless Services is a local Pasadena organization supporting people impacted by the fires.