Choose Love Movement

Our very first keynote speaker, Scarlett Lewis, kicked off TLC Tuesday morning with her incredible presentation on the Choose Love Movement. Her moving story about how she lost her son, Jessie, to the shootings at Sandy Hook brought emotion out of anyone watching. But the most amazing part is what she created out of that tragedy. She thoroughly went over Social Emotional Learning and the premise that when you choose love, you take your personal power back. Lewis started her journey to spread this message when she came home following her son’s death and found three words he had written on a chalkboard in their kitchen prior to the event that had taken place; Nurturing, Healing, Love, this was the last message Jessie left. She took this as a sign and started this movement to educate people on how to stay present and choose love through a formula that has been scientifically proven to help.

Courage+ Gratitude+ Forgiveness+ Compassion in action= Choosing Love

According to Lewis, this combination of actions helps any individual down a more positive and successful path in life. By trying to incorporate these tactics in your daily decisions you will strengthen your mindset and allow yourself the power to change your thoughts. Thoughts are powerful. One angry thought is what led to an event like Sandy Hook, but thoughts can be changed. People have 50-70 thoughts a day and 70-80% of those are negative. Every thought impacts us, are we just relinquishing ourselves to the negativity or looking for improving solutions? By staying present and self-aware we can actively choose to incorporate move positive thinking into our daily routine. We cannot always choose what happens to us in life, but we can choose how to respond. This empowering message is something that Lewis has turned into a curriculum and shares all over the United States and the world. Her message definitely had an impact on me and I feel the information she shared is relatable to so many on all different levels. I encourage everyone to watch this session and start choosing love and positive thoughts each day!

Jacquelyn Bullis

Faculty Support and Development Associate

Ashford University / Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning