characters in our journey

Our stories (our lives) are much bigger than us.  For better and for worse, "the characters who share my journey with me" are a huge part of my story.  There are many things I am passionate about and committed to because of my own experience with those things.  And there are many things I am passionate about because of what others in my life have experienced, even if it is a reality I personally have never known.  This is part of why believe in and desire diversity so much- we are blind and ignorant and small without relationships with those whose lives have looked and/or currently look and/or will look different than ours.  I think we can speak to and fight for or against issues* without having gone through them ourselves, but I don't know that we can do it very effectively if we don't even have relationships with those who have experienced that stuff and if we haven't intentionally sought to learn and grow from their stories.  (Knowing someone who has depression is one thing, letting them teach you about what it is like to live with depression is a whole other thing.)

I want to direct you once again to blog of the phenomenal organization, To Write Love on Her Arms.  One of their fall interns recently wrote about all of this, and I really appreciate what she said.  Below is a little excerpt, but read the full post here.

My purpose here is to show people that you don’t necessarily have to encounter these issues directly to be involved in the fight against them. You can still show people who are struggling that they need to give others a chance to fight alongside them. You both deserve to know each other, to know what the other is feeling. 

For those of you who are afraid of being a burden to others, especially to those who you think might not understand: I urge you to reconsider. Honesty and truth will strengthen your relationships more than silence ever can. A fake smile will never bring you closer to healing than the embrace of a friend. You are giving a gift by writing your story into the stories of others. You are giving them the chance to love you and to learn from that love.

*I cringe when I use the word "issues," but have yet to find a word more appropriate.  I feel like referring to huge things like mental illness, addiction, poverty, racism, war, slavery, human trafficking, etc. as "issues" minimizes them to sound like problems to be solved.  But they are so much bigger than that, because they are realities which have profound and pervasive implications on the lives of MANY people.  The words we use matter, and I wanted to make sure I explained why I used this specific word.