Little word, big question 🫶

Author

Karen Choi
February 16, 2026

“Mama, what is God? And don’t give me the church answer.”

“Oh…that’s a big question, Una. And I’m still learning. But I’ll tell you what I know for sure.

God is love. The love inside you. The love inside me. The love between us. The love we give. The love we get. The love we share. There is love all around us. We live inside it. We are made of it. That’s what God is to me.”

In case you’re new here, welcome to Balm. 👋 I realize today is Monday, so every Sunday-ish, I send you a care kit: one song, one poem, one move…plus reflections from my own life. A weekly practice of noticing and being.

🎶 One Song

For those who believe in love. This music holds space for big feelings and makes you feel a little less alone.

Rose Cousins only came into my life recently, thanks to Joshua Van Tassel (we worked together years ago at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra). Now a sound designer, drummer, and composer, he co-produced Rose’s album, Conditions of Love, which is nominated for a Juno!

Here’s what she says about the song: “It’s an uplifting anthem reminding us to stay at times unbearably open and necessarily vulnerable in our wavering between love and freedom.”

I hope you give the track and full album a listen, and join me in cheering for Rose and Josh when the 55th Annual JUNO Awards take place on March 29.

🪷 One Poem

Variations On The Word Love (an excerpt)

Then there’s the two
of us. This word
is far too short for us, it has only
four letters, too sparse
to fill those deep bare
vacuums between the stars
that press on us with their deafness.
It’s not love we don’t wish
to fall into, but that fear.
This word is not enough but it will
have to do. It’s a single
vowel in this metallic
silence, a mouth that says
O again and again in wonder
and pain, a breath, a finger
grip on a cliffside. You can
hold on or let go.

~ Margaret Atwood

〰️ One Move

Let music move you wild and free.

Put on I Believe In Love. Stand up. Close your eyes if you want. Let your body respond to the sound…whatever that looks like for you. There’s no right or wrong way. Here, let’s do it together.

This is an embodied practice for tuning in to what’s moving in you and through you. We move Qi (vital life force) and Qi moves us. Dynamic. Bidirectional. Just like Love.

May you stay unbearably open for love.
May you remember the love within.
May you move with love.

With gratitude,
Karen

P.S. Balm exists because we need space to feel…and we're not meant to do it alone. We move through it together. We rest together. We witness together. We stay, together. To me, this is love.

P.P.S. On March 8, we gather to remember our own resonance. To tune in to the frequency of love that's within us, around us, connecting us. Soul Care Sunday is one of my favourite ways to be together. I'd love to see you there. Here’s the link for details and to save your spot.

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