Witness 09: All of Us. All of Us.
We don't need to agree. We really don't.
A QUIET JOY
FROM YOU
In late spring/early summer out the front of certain estate buildings in London. Roses will bud, then bloom in all their glory. I don't know if they are maintained by someone’s hand or by themselves. When I'm close enough I stop to learn their fragrance. On the bus the other day I looked out at a man with his rucksack slung over one shoulder, lean in to do the same. He pauses just like I do, to savour the delicate scent. I smile with delight.
Roberta, London
A REFLECTION FROM ME
Just like I do.
Four words that speak to our sameness. Our shared humanity. Words that can dance upon our tongues when we forget that our similarities extend so far beyond any perceived differences.
Just like I do.
What a delicious way of allowing empathy to swell up in our chests when we sometimes can't see ourselves in each other.
I've been thinking about this a lot recently. Musing on what it means to be a collective family both locally and globally. To be able to respect each other's beautiful differences without judgement or assumption, but to fundamentally understand our sameness.
You only need to do 2.5 scrolls on social media to see just how divisive our world feels. The digital battlefield of hot takes and opinions is exactly the freedom of speech that was so fought for. But, there has to be a place for expression that also acknowledges that we will never agree on everything and that's okay. There needs to be a silent caveat that says, ‘for me to believe or think this, it is not required for you to believe or think this.'
A place of empathy and compassion, where we can see how wildly different we are and that we don't need to be on the same page about absolutely everything, but we can see why someone might have a completely different worldview to us. Where yes, there is anger and confusion, but there is still this core foundation of, ‘This person loves, feels deeply, eats and sleeps; just like I do.'
The space that thought opens up is huge. It allows us to release judgement, to be boundaried with the people we want to have in our lives or the content we engage in, and to remember that we are all humans. We can always be discerning of who receives our time, care and attention, and it's this same thought that can also show us that we can understand and empathise with someone and also choose to distance ourselves from them.
This thought gives us the breathing room to listen to people's stories, to see that our worldview is based on our experiences, what we read, what we were told, what our caregivers taught us. Most of us believe that our way of doing life is ‘right’ and who are we to say that?
Just like I do.
How we act and what we do in the 24 hours we have each day will unlikely be the same as the person sat on the bus next to us. But, what we do know to be true is that we all feel pain and we love. We get tired. We feel stuck. We experience joy. We cry. Our hearts break. We heal.
Just the knowing of that is powerful. The knowing of that is what can move us to open doors for people in stores, smile at people in the street, to be curious and listen to stories that are the opposite of ours, feed those who've not been fed and help those who need it.
I love this so much, Giselle. I need it. The world needs it. Thank you.