Proof
Wednesday was a powerful day for me. I wasn’t on vacation, didn’t go anywhere special. Meetings during the day were productive, but not groundbreaking. The dogs didn’t do any worthy of starting their own YouTube channel. I don’t even remember if sewed a single quilt block. What caused me to think my day was extraordinary were the connections I experienced and witnessed happening among other people.
As the day started it seemed like many people in my circle were just having a rough time. We did a lot of talking and sharing and comforting. That’s not extraordinary by itself, my immediate circle is tight and we take care of each other. But the first interaction with someone other than immediate family and co-workers was the first reminder of the day about why I started writing again. A reminder of how important and inspirational connections with other people can be, how the connections we make now will continue to have positive impacts on our lives for years, decades to come if we let them.
I started my job about a year and half ago, and one of the projects I took responsibility for involved work totally outside my experiences. The project is also trying to address seemingly intractable social and economic problems plaguing the workforce and hindering economic mobility for some of our county residents. But if you know me, you know I love to learn and do new things, especially if it involves creating ways to make the lives of others better. So I jumped into the project with both feet and my whole heart. Because this is so far outside of my old previous work, almost everyone I meet along the way is a new contact. Many of them have been working on these problems for years, and you know how it can be when you’ve worked and worked on a puzzle without being able to solve the whole thing. It can be disheartening, exhausting. So here I come with my slightly Pollyanna attitude, a boatload of good intentions, and almost none of the requisite knowledge or experience.
What I do have is passion, and that first interaction of the day with a passionate but exhausted warrior filled my heart with resolve. This person has been fighting the good fight for 40 years, and he does not pull any punches about the feasibility of fixing the problems. What I appreciate so much about him is that he has stayed in the fight and is willing to teach me, maybe help prepare me to continue that fight as others take well-deserved rest. He took time that day to teach and coach, sharing his expertise as well as his frustrations. I can count on him to challenge my preconceived notions directly and convincingly, and he continues to offer support and assistance, even though I realize I may be jousting at windmills. He is generous with his time and patient with his counsel; I’m lucky to have him in presently in my corner.
The second person to pop in that day is the person whose simple question “where is your sparkle” prompted me to start my first blog where I talked about life with my wife and the unique challenges LGBTQ+ families face. We hadn’t seen each other much in person the last few years, but it seemed like yesterday. We’ve stayed in touch, but we don’t run in the same circles anymore and I miss seeing her beautiful face every day. I cherish our relationship; her kindness, acceptance, and encouragement have always been right on time. We’ll be able to see each other more often now, and I am grateful for her continued friendship.
Finally the last experience of the day left me with a peaceful, filled heart and a little more hope for the future. We’re lucky to have Hendricks County Community Foundation and the Center for Interfaith Cooperation in our community. They’ve partnered to offer a 10-month series exploring religious diversity, bringing speakers in once a month to share about their faith. Each month will focus on a different faith, what an opportunity! While I totally respect a person’s right to worship however they chose, I’ve not taken the time to actually learn about many of them, and this series fits just perfectly into my schedule so I had zero excuses now. I am not one to subscribe to any religion, but I am interested in them because of the impact they have on individuals as well as society as a whole. The workshop on this day brought two speakers in to share their Hindu faith. I was touched by the passionate way our speakers talked about their faith, how they wove the practices into their lives. And it served to remind me that the only way to truly see someone is to SEE SOMEONE. Our world view can’t expand if we aren’t deliberate about it, seeking out other peoples’ truths and generating the connections that heal divides and strengthen communities.
This one day was all the proof I need to validate the purpose of writing again. Proof that positive connections are impactful, and that we need more of them. Proof that we can find positivity everywhere if we look for it. And proof that sometimes positivity just walks right in the door when you least expect it, and all you have to do is give it a big hug and say hi!