Making Space

We don't live in a vacuum. We can hear. We can see. We can feel the elements of every life. But this doesn't translate into wisdom. We are free to choose where to direct our senses, where to reach out and experience the world.

I wish making a better world was like labor and birth. Because that was inevitable. I knew that all the pain was moving me closer to something extraordinary, and also there was nothing I could do to stop it. The pain rolled over me, my uterine walls contracted, and my babies made their slow (though, luckily, not that slow) way into the world.

We don't know what's at the end of this pain. We just don't. And I am okay with this. I am okay with this discomfort. Because what does life look like when our greatest goal is to be free from pain and discomfort and any negativity? When we deny ourselves the full spectrum of experiences and perspectives? Such pursuits, or really escapes, are paths to emptiness. We would leech ourselves of complexity, nuance and true dignity.

I think perhaps now is a time of definition. Not choosing sides or claiming allegiance to anything. I am simply taking up space. I am here. You do not have to listen, but I do not have to be agreeable for your comfort. My humanity is not defined by your approval.