June 2020
I haven’t been able to write these past few weeks. I’ve scribbled pages and pages of messy notes in my journal about all that’s been going on in the world, but trying to articulate it in a way that is coherent and beautiful has been impossible. As someone who has a pathological need to write to make meaning of what happens in my world, this has left me feeling apprehensive.
Though, arguably, this isn’t the time to fret about producing something beautiful. You don’t create a beautiful world by only choosing to see what’s beautiful, by looking away from the injustices and the brokenness in your world – especially ones that don’t touch you directly.
Admittedly, that’s what I’ve been doing all this time. While I’ve been frustrated to find a divided society in which people seem unwilling to listen, I never listened, either. My understanding of how marginalization plays out in my own city is upsettingly limited. I know shockingly little about Black and Indigenous histories here in Canada.
This week’s episode of This American Life, titled Here, Again captures so much of what’s been at the forefront of my mind that I’ve struggled to articulate. There’s nothing in this episode that’s presented as brand-new information or a radical idea. And yet, it resonates with me.
An exhaustingly familiar story, as the makers of the show call it.
Yours,
Sarah
