Caring

A sign of love

I am working with an art gallery that seeks to make a shift in its culture to embrace and infuse itself with people from all walks of life. The buzz words in the business world at the moment are diversity, equity and inclusion. Organisations are eager to snap up consultants that are doing work in this area in a bid to make themselves more competitive in their sphere of operation. These are the surface benefits for those who are perhaps not aware of the underlying significance of these initiatives they are striving to bring about. I am falling deeply in love with this work. It is a calling I had not discerned before. It speaks to and confirms my efforts in strive to build unity in the spaces I inhabit, in seeking to create relationships that are just among individuals, communities and institutions. It is a source of uplifting all. It requires taking a real hard look at current practices, not a cursory glance, and evaluating what elements serve to include everybody and those that divide and oppress a segment of the population. It necessitates the courage to expose these elements and where possible uproot but knowing that this is most difficult so instead to plant those elements that are conducive to the desired environment. These conversations that I am having are soul searching and difficult, not to shame anybody or an organisation, but to enable us to remove the blinders that we have been wearing as we have been walking through this world. The path up ahead requires clearer vision and a higher standard of character. This work requires being interested in what everyone thinks, listening deeply to all that is said, whilst remaining cognizant of what is to be achieved and helping folks to view this goal in the distance. This work is about loving one another and finding avenues within ourselves to express it. It emanates from my heart.