Legacies Aren’t for Leaving
Legacy of Love
It’s my birthday weekend and I’m off for the rest of today, so I’ll keep this brief.
It’s not that I think you’d actually miss having an email from me this Friday, more that I promised myself that I would be consistent in reflecting and sharing for the foreseeable future…so here we are.
As I catapult into the final throes of my 40s, I’ve been thinking about what really matters in my life: my relationships, helping people as they find and use their voices, and acting toward an equitable and supported world for all humans.
I've been checking in on questions I've answered time and again: Why do I do what I do? What is my purpose here? What difference can I possibly make as one person? What new thoughts can I contribute when there’s really nothing that I could think of that hasn’t been thought of before? What can I really do to impact equity, safety, and support? Can I really make a difference?
I think, quite simply, that all of these things are worth pondering.
What they’re not worth is attachment to the answers.
Let me explain...
In a world where we often feel helpless to move the needle on any of the most pressing issues in our society, being too wrapped up in our individual contributions seems overwhelming and impossible.
I’m not saying that we should give up…quite the opposite, actually. I’m saying that in order to truly move the needle we don’t need to find perfect answers or think that we’re only successful when we have predetermined the outcome we’d like to see.
If nothing we do matters in the grand scheme of things, then nothing should stop us from relentlessly pursuing the good and kind things we’re here to do in the world.
Given the uncertainty of the future (as we’ve always had big uncertainties — this too isn’t new), I feel pretty good anchoring into good and kind things that help humans feel safe, loved, seen, heard, accepted, empowered, and supported.
So that's it. That’s the reflection.
It sounds a lot like my ongoing plea to be present today, be kind to yourself, take steps to heal so you can pay it forward, help others, and look at everything and everyone through your softest, most understanding lens.
The legacy we leave is based on the actions we take today.
In the grand scheme of things, what matters is the love, care, and attention we show today.
xox,
Michelle
P.S. We can all work on identifying and rescripting our own stories and take better actions. If you are in Richmond, please join me on May 25th for a screening of Deconstructing Karen followed by a conversation with Saira Rao & Regina Jackson for a transformative evening of uncompromising truth-telling, dialogue, and relationship-building that aims to open up challenging yet hopeful conversations about racism, systems of oppression, and white supremacy.
Rest. Recalibrate. Restore. Renew.
