Words, both shared and those that constantly create and recreate Life, hold an essential place where young people with mental diversity and Community members come together. 

With words—nurtured where they struggle to emerge and moderated when they overwhelm and become a vehicle of disconnection from the present lived with others—each person’s affections and emotions find what they need to rise from the depths of their being, to emerge and grow along with relationships, especially in encounters between generations and with the fullness of life that every person, regardless of age or condition, carries within. 

Diversity, valued where parity and exchange may initially seem absent, is the principle that supports each person’s discovery as unique, open to goodness and infinity, to a truth that guides one to their true self. It is the value that unlocks the discovery of reciprocity, where the concrete needs of another—directly or indirectly through their life—reveal the fundamental need for connection, for feeling at home with others. Diversity is not a call to fill the gaps in others or to address their shortcomings; it is another name for fraternity, for the bond that alone can transform the fabric of our culture. 

The values of collective consciousness, shared hope, and a passion for Life are our guiding indicators in a creative resistance to the societal ills that separate people from each other and the Absolute. Moving beyond the notion that we can only live as we currently do—that strong, true connections with many, or a different economy, are impossible; that we are truly free only if we pursue self-fulfillment independently, sometimes even at the expense of others—we cultivate the certainty and practice of personal happiness inseparably linked to the recognition of others, of many others, their lives and needs, and the beauty and richness of their being.