Vulnerable, and listening.

Lately I’ve found myself in vulnerable spaces.
Of my own design.

Opening myself up to uncertainties.
Of uncharted territory.

Asking new kinds of questions.
Seeking connections in new and deeper ways.
Looking to really feel something.

And when I look into someones eyes, to really see them.
With a quest of better understanding how they see.
And how seeing through their reality, I might also better come to understand myself, and the intersectionality of our experiences.

This is a vulnerable space.
And a tiring space.
For truly listening, means embracing genuine kindness.
Embracing  openness toward another being.
Seeing them for what they are: a human being.
All of us, on a quest for meaning.

In this vulnerable space, I also find myself more woke–to the ways in which our systems of education are oppressive.
No longer sleeping, silently, unaware.
I wonder about the ways in which my participation in dominant forms of discourse may be perpetuating the oppressive nature of schooling.

I don’t understand it.

But it think seeing it,
and asking questions,
and showing up,
and truly listening,
however vulnerable…
is a good place to start.