There is a lot of turmoil around us. People fear that something will be taken away from them. Maybe it's their guns. Or their right to protest. Or their right to decide to wear a mask or not.

It leads to a lot of fear. And it's making people angry. And that can too easily turn to hate.

The opposite of love

One of the greatest epiphanies of my life was when someone helped me understand the opposite of love. Most think it's hate. But it's not. It's fear.

Fear causes us to do ugly things. We've seen a lot of it lately. Among it all, I heard something quite moving. An exhortation of sorts. It goes like this: "Let's make sure none of us has to live in fear."

I was moved by this twist on the idea of 'love thy neighbor'.

Is there a role for brands in all this?

I write about purpose and brands. I'm not so naïve to believe that brands can solve this problem. But I do think they can play a role. Many have started to explore their purpose in order to understand the larger impact the brand can have.

Unfortunately, too many try to jump on the bandwagon, throwing their support behind a trending issue or a cause that really doesn't have a connection to the brand.

But a few are getting it right when they embrace a purpose that is deeply connected to who they are.

You may not be one of these few. If that's the case, I have an idea for you. Let's look at this issue of fear. Ask, "What fear does our brand help alleviate for those we hope to serve?"

The beauty brand Dove did it by understanding that people can have low self-esteem because of the unattainable images that the beauty industry had created. So the brand decided to address it. Today, other brands have joined the effort - pledging to stop using retouched photos of models or pledging to use models of all body shapes and ages. And more.

It feels much like a movement.

I'm not saying a brand can eradicate a social injustice all by itself. This is simply a call to participate in addressing all this fear that floats around today.

If you want to know where to start, really understand the relationship between your brand and the fear that it can help alleviate for those you hope to serve. You'll start to see some things you can do that make a real difference for people. It may not be world-changing (at least not at first). But if it helps divert energy from fear turning to hate, it would be a pretty wonderful purpose. A purpose the world could use right now.