Three Questions...

three questions:

• this week, what did I learn?
• what does it mean?
• what do we do next?

I learned about the infinite power of generosity and kindness. I had already thought of myself as having developed those qualities to a certain degree, and am grateful to have befriended people in this country taught me that there more to go, friends who are now my role models for the next level.

I have also learned that acts of kindness and generosity, are exemplars of the motto, "think globally, act locally". No one person or group has the answers we strive to seek with regards to social justice, equity and the insistence on human rights (though Zoila, Melvin and I feel like we came pretty close last night...). However, the small measures we take add up to more than the sum of its parts. We are not changing the world - we have accomplished something more meaningful than that. We are changing our world around us and empowering others to do so as well. And we are being empowered in return.

This week's significance to me is a release from the pressure of endlessly reacting to all our crazy leaders, raging through the tragedies and the horrors of all our pasts. The meaning I've gotten from my time here is to value the ability to connect with fellow brothers and sisters in this struggle to weave a web of peace that the forces that oppose us will eventually find themselves unable to escape.

I cannot think of "nexts" at this moment. I apologize for that. The idealist in me still want to act globally, but I know that this causes me to act rarely. I've been in that trap and will not go back there again. I will work on the "next" and, in the meantime, respond whenever my brothers and sisters come up with their "nexts" and support with my blood, sweat and toil. 

I owe myself that. A life lived with less fear, more love and surrounded by heroes who double as friends. My "next" is unknowable right now, except for the expectation that it will continue to lead me through a life that is bolder than I'd imagine, more powerful that I though possible.

I owe my heroes and friend, my teachers and students, no less than that.