As I begin the process of more deeply educating myself on how to be an effective ally and more explicitly anti-racist, I am struck by the twin needs of meeting the moment and building a better future. This is both an individual mandate and a collective one, and it is the base from which I commit to an invigorated professional practice.
So, for current and future clients, this is a spoiler alert! Anyone in a position of leadership (note: a leader is not a title or a position, it is a stance, an approach, mindset, and a willingness to take responsibility) must grapple with issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion overtly and indefinitely. We will make mistakes, but fear of being wrong can’t be an excuse for inaction. I have seen my clients step up beautifully in the past several weeks, doing the hard work of listening, learning, and committing to new practices and policies. I’ve seen them meet the moment, which sometimes requires real vulnerability. We’ve also begun to talk about how to rethink the future.
In a recent conversation hosted by NationSwell, I was struck by the notion of building a cathedral as a hallmark of a life worth living. Bill Shore, in his book The Cathedral Within, notes that like the cathedral builders of an earlier era, a number of socially-minded visionaries he profiles share a single desire: to create something that endures. They tap into resources, often private, to erect something that will last beyond their years. In fact, they may not live to see the completion of what they have started. This act of devotion, optimism, and generosity really hit me. Hard. It’s the anti-instant gratification reflex; an extraordinary act of faith (religious or otherwise) in what is good. And, it is putting one’s talent, sweat, and time into the creation of a place where people gather. And, we will gather again when it is safe. We’ll do so with a sense of purpose, joy, and a renewed understanding of why community is so important to our mental health and defines societies.
Often, I invite my clients to think about themselves as a pole holding up a set of barbells. The balls themselves are opposing elements: collaboration and individual effort; strength and softness; conviction and questioning; humor and gravitas; rest and effort; planning and spontaneity. This moment is asking something similar of us. To be present now and do the hard work of unpacking history to understand where we went wrong and what to do about it, and to build a future some of us may not see but in which all of us have the chance to thrive. The stones are heavy, the toil is real, and we’ll no doubt feel injured from time to time. But if this work is in service of a chance to collectively soar, we can’t turn away.
