How to Be Courageous with Your Love: A Practice for Uncertain Times

There is a question I return to again and again, in my own life and in my work with communities across the country: What does love ask of us when the world on fire?

For most of my adult life, I organized around what I was against—the hate, the harm, the injustice. It took me years to understand that what sustains us, what actually changes the world, is what we are for. That realization became the foundation of what I call Revolutionary Love, not love as a rush of feeling, but love as a fierce, demanding, daily practice.

In the Sikh tradition there is a name for a person who walks this path: the sage warrior. The warrior fights, the sage loves. It is all a path of Revolutionary Love. This is not a role reserved for history's great figures. It is an invitation available to each of us, right now.

All Parts of You Are Welcome 

Your grief shows how deeply you love. Your rage carries information and energy and it all connects you to your ability to fight for what you believe. Your numbness, your fear, your exhaustion: all of it belongs. Your pain is not a sign of your weakness; it is a sign of your strength, of how deeply you care. You are awake to the magnitude of this moment in history. We cannot alchemize any of this into action unless we allow ourselves to feel it first. 

Ask yourself: What information does my pain carry? What do the hurting parts of me need?

"Your pain is not a sign of your weakness; it is a sign of your strength, of how deeply you care."

The Future Is Dark

Is this the darkness of the tomb, or the womb?

It is both. Some seasons of life feel like dying and yet that is precisely when new forms of courage, insight, and awakening are trying to be born. Your sacred task will be to lift your gaze and realize that you are not alone in the dark. There are more of us than ever before—millions of us longing for a world of love and liberation. Imagine we are together in the dark.

Ask yourself: What is wanting to be born in this moment? What is my role in that labor?

We Are in Transition: Breathe and Push

Our world is still waiting to be born and we are in a painful contraction. In birthing labor, transition is stage that precedes new life. Transition is dangerous and tumultuous. It feels like dying and yet it is precisely when we must summon our deepest courage to stay in the labor. We are in transition now. We need the wisdom of the midwife: breathe and push. Think of the people and communities that need you. 

Ask yourself: How am I breathing? How am I pushing? Who will breathe and push with me?

Call Your Wisest Ancestors to Your Back

Through every difficult era in human history, people have faced the same choice: Do I succumb to despair, or do I dare to keep going? Our most courageous ancestors chose to keep going—for children they would never meet, for a future they would not live to see. Call them to your back. Think of a beloved teacher, a grandparent, a figure from history. Notice what their courage feels like in your body. 

Ask yourself: Who are the ancestors at my back? What do they want me to know?

Build a Space of Freedom Inside You 

My ancestors survived apocalyptic times by becoming sage warriors. The sage builds a space of beauty, freedom, rest, and joy within, and from that space, becomes a warrior in the world. We are all called to be sage warriors now. Oppression wants us to believe this space doesn't exist, or that we don't deserve it. This is a lie. Our bravest ancestors went there to rest and sing and remember who they were. From that bright place, they kept going. 

Ask yourself: What does my sovereign space look like? What tools do I need to get there?

Joy Will Power Your Courage

I used to feel guilty for experiencing joy when so much suffering surrounded me. That belief eventually broke me. I got sick; I burned out. It turns out we cannot run on the fumes of hostility and last. I began to let joy into my daily life. Joy gives us energy to keep going in the dark. Joy gives us the energy for courageous action. In the Sikh tradition, we call this Chardi Kala: ever-rising spirit, even in darkness. You can't force joy, but you can create the conditions for it. 

Ask yourself: What brings me joy? How will I protect it every day?

"It turns out we cannot run on the fumes of hostility and last... Joy gives us energy to keep going in the dark."

Practice the World You Want in the Space Between You

Our ancestors survived hard times by gathering, cooking together, telling stories, and caring for one another. Beloved community is not the absence of conflict; it's where we struggle together with love as the guide. Your relationships are a practice space for the world as it could be. 

Ask yourself: Who is my community? What are we practicing together?

It's Okay to Feel Hopeless. What Matters Is the Work Your Hands Do.

Hope waxes and wanes like the moon. Sometimes it's full and luminous; sometimes it disappears entirely. On those hopeless nights, remember: What matters is the work your hands do. Who will you reach out to in the dark? Who will breathe with you? 

Ask yourself: What is one brave step you can take together?

Let Love Be Your Compass

The social and political crises of our time are rooted in a deeper spiritual crisis—a constriction of the human heart, a disconnection from each other and from ourselves. When we choose to be brave with our love, when we refuse to leave anyone outside our circle of care, love becomes revolutionary.

Ask yourself: What does love demand of me? How will I let love be my compass?

Let us give one another the courage that comes from joy and the joy that comes from community.

Practice with Valarie

On Campus

Sage Warrior Retreat

Cultivating courage in uncertain times

April 17–19, 2026

Online

Sage Warrior Retreat

The livestream experience

April 17–19, 2026

Online

Becoming Sage Warriors

A virtual book club and wisdom journey with Valarie Kaur

May 7–28, 2026