Written by: Beth Yohe

People across Denver are howling like wolves at 8 p.m. every night as a show of solidarity. I’ll admit, I didn’t know about the howling until the night of the supermoon (April 7), when my family heard the noise and our ears perked up in wonder. A few articles later, we had the scoop and the next night joined in. We belted out our best wolf howls and in a few seconds heard howls in response. The howls connecting from house-to-house across the state brought tears of joy to my eyes; it was the sound of love.

People howl for different reasons: frustration; pain; loneliness; or for loved ones who are sick. We are howling for those who are not home, who may be working on the front lines of this pandemic. This howling is a shared release into the world and in return we receive howls back saying “we’re here, we hear you, we are connected, and we are in this together.”

At The Conflict Center our work is at the center of transforming how we interact with one another. The enormous impact of living through this crisis and experiencing the devastation, grief, economic despair, hardship and inequity resulting from the impact of the Coronavirus is real and can feel overwhelming. At The Conflict Center we focus on the everyday, the smaller and ordinary choices that make up our daily lives; those areas of our control. I believe during this crisis there are still places for transformation, such as redefining connection and finding joy in small moments. Or improving our communication out of necessity, whether that is because we’re with each other all day or because we’re not seeing each other in-person for weeks. Or spreading love in creative ways, like howling every night to lessen the feeling of distance.

Whether you join in with the howls or not, I believe there is a potential lesson about the importance of connection. I hope that each of you find a way to connect; to let others know that you hear them and to be heard by others in return. To find your own way to howl love.

In connection,
Beth Yohe