"no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well"
-Warsan Shire
It has recently come to my attention that asking the question How are you? is not the best way to greet someone. I get it. The question can be difficult to answer and can even be triggering. It can also come off as ingenuine. Especially in this fast-paced world where some folks won’t even wait for the answer. For me though, I’m interested in the answer. I want to know what my community is grappling with and how I can support them. At the same time, I respect and understand folks' hesitations. I sometimes don’t have an answer to that question myself. It’s a challenging time and sometimes I don’t want to talk about it.
Due to this development, I’ve worked on changing my approach to checking in. I’m looking for new ways to connect. New questions to ask. My new go-to question has been What’s something good that’s happened this week? In an attempt to celebrate the good things, big and small, and infuse gratitude of some sort into every conversation. There’s so much happening in the world. Between Ida, Haiti, and Afghanistan, it can feel like we’re helpless against outside forces and like there’s little good in the world. The events of the past few months have been scary. The images from Del Rio, Texas feel like they’re from another era. In reality, this is just an all too familiar American ritual.
So I’m changing my approach. I’m taking the breath that capitalism doesn’t want me to take, and I’m infusing gratitude into every conversation. I’m staying close to every moment and remaining as present as possible.
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