Honoring Lived Experiences
September 30 was Canada’s National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
October 13 was Indigenous Peoples Day in the US.
Both passed by with little attention – including on my part. I was aware of both observances but did no more than give a tiny nod of acknowledgment. Owning this is embarrassing, and it calls me to be more intentional about honoring these observances, and about taking time to learn about peoples lived experiences.
So many of our interactions are transactional. And transactional interactions are necessary and helpful in many ways. It is also important that we take time to pause and see people – to allow ourselves to move in closer and learn about people from their perspective.
When we open ourselves deeply to another person and their lived experiences, we enter the sacred. We step outside our little bubble of awareness and touch the world of someone else. This is especially impactful when we listen to tender stories of how a person has been marginalized, harmed by prejudice, or experienced significant loss. Listening deeply to such stories can be both heart-breaking and heart-opening. This nurtures compassion – and it transforms us; it expands our perspective.
Valerie Kaur is a Sikh American who speaks about the practice of “welcoming the stranger” which is beautiful modeled in her faith tradition. She shares her practice of looking at people and silently acknowledging: “You are a part of me I don’t yet know.”
There is only One Presence and One Power. Therefore, everyone is a part of us. What would it be like to live inside this truth? It would change everything, wouldn’t it? One of the ways we can step inside this truth is to intentionally sit with someone and inquire about their lived experience. For me, this means making a regular commitment, to step outside my complacency, and enter someone else’s reality.
My favorite Rumi quote is: “Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.”
May I have the humility and the courage, to honor the lived experiences of others, and step into the field where there is no separation.