Stronger Together
By Dr. Victoria Ranade
Dear Hope+Wellness Community,
"I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality." — Martin Luther King Jr.
I hope you are doing well. I want to thank you for being a valued client here and for your trust in our practice and team. As a client, you are not alone—you are part of a larger community. With everything going on in the world, community is something I have been reflecting on lately: how we can each contribute to it in our own small ways.
I grew up as part of a community. It was a Taiwanese American community in San Jose, California. My parents immigrated from Taiwan in the 1980s, along with many other families—primarily computer chip engineers making a life in Silicon Valley. We attended Chinese School on Saturday mornings with other children. Chinese school wasn't simply a place to learn the language; it was a place for mothers to gather and form friendships, where other aunties watched over us, where we celebrated holidays together. Through this, our parents kept the language and culture alive within us. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but now as an adult, I feel deeply grateful for those early experiences of belonging.
As a child, I didn't contribute much to that community—I primarily received it. But I've come to understand that this is how community works. We receive before we give. And then, when others begin to rely on us, we rise to the occasion and discover our own gifts in turn. In community, we can be known. We can know others and rely on them. A natural interdependence emerges. Through this interdependence, we come to understand that we are part of something larger than ourselves. We live not just for ourselves, but in service of others.
Recently, I traveled to Northern California to visit Redwood National Park with my father. The trees were hundreds, sometimes thousands of years old. Standing among them, you can't help but feel their presence. A tree that has lived for a thousand years has something unmistakable about it. It is deeply alive. And it reminds you that you are small—that life continued long before you and will continue long after. Again, you realize that life is not simply about you. It is more than you.
I think this understanding is critical for our wellbeing. So much of depression and anxiety is connected to isolation—to living outside the context of something larger. We must remain in connection to others and to life itself to truly know ourselves. Nature helps us stay grounded in this understanding. So does being part of a community.
I've also been reflecting on what it means to be humble. Our culture is very focused on being the best, on accumulating likes and followers, on being noticed. But what if it's okay to be ordinary and not the most remarkable? What if it's okay to show up and do your work each day without fanfare? How do we teach children—and remind ourselves—that doing things with a good and cheerful heart is worth more than recognition?
With everything going on in the world, it can feel overwhelming and paralyzing at times to orient oneself. I've been returning to these words from Dr. King—the idea that we are bound together, that our flourishing is linked. It has helped me remember that even when the world feels chaotic, we are not alone. We belong to one another.
Find ways to contribute to your community. Find ways to show up humbly. These are invitations I'm extending to myself as much as to you—because as Dr. King reminds us, none of us can become who we're meant to be in isolation. We need each other.
Thank you for showing up here at Hope+Wellness, where we work to show up for you in return. Like the redwoods, like the communities that raised us, these relationships remind me that we are part of something larger. This is the humble gift.
Best,
Dr. Victoria Ranade, PhD, MBA, ABPP
Founder + President, Hope+Wellness
