I was listening to the radio the other day and heard an interview with a guy saying how it's about time we come up with fair wages for restaurant workers. He wrote a whole book about it. The way he was talking, it really amazed me. He was so passionate. He said some things that I had never thought about - like how the practice of tipping roots back to slavery in America - and it made a lot of sense and I felt an appreciation for his work (though I never caught his name). My lasting thought was, "Wow, I'm glad that guy cares so much about fair wages for people and I hope that things change for the restaurant industry."
I don't work in the restaurant industry. I know the wages aren't good so I know the tip goes a long way to help people out. But hearing this guy care about it like he did made me want to rally behind him and care about it too.
Caring is powerful.
I remember something Carolyn Myss said once about how people form attachments to different things around the world, and thus are impacted when something happens to the source of those attachments. Some people care so deeply for trees that they feel physically ill when trees in the Amazon are being cut down. Others are attached to the outcome of animals. Even others are more tied to humans and feel the suffering of other humans more viscerally.
I'm sure many of you have noticed that I care deeply for what happens in Indigenous communities. I care about what happens to the Indigenous communities that I belong to and I feel that same sort of feeling for Indigenous communities around the world. When I hear about something difficult going on for the Māori or the Kānaka Maoli or Indigenous people anywhere, I feel that right in my heart. I cry often. It really gets me.
Lately it's been witnessing the Nlaka'pamux people going through one thing after another and another. In the summer, uncontrolled wildfires swept through the Lytton area, decimating homes and displacing people from the village and surrounding reserves. Many of those evacuees from the summer went to Merritt and have been staying there - and now they're being evacuated for a second time. Those who remained in the Lytton area are now confronted with massive floods and landslides. On top of all this devastation is the uncomfortable truth of how colonialism and prioritizing corporate-interests have neglected the needs and warnings of local First Nations who predicted these things would happen.
**Everything I just shared about what the Nlaka'pamux are going through comes from nlaka'pamux accounts @jadeblade_ on IG or @shianna_mc on Twitter or IG - go follow them and check out their LinkTrees too for opportunities to offer financial support directly to those who are going through it right now.**
There is so much to care about and so many of us who care. And so how do we leverage that caring into contribution to our communities?
Sometimes I feel frozen and I don't know what to say. Sometimes it's better for me to listen. And research. I do a lot of research into the things that catch my attention.
It's natural that we don't all care about the same things. There are simply too many things to care about and as mere humans there is only so much caring that we can embody and act on. What we can do is choose one or two things (or more) to care about and actively engage in that caring relationship. Show up. Take notes. Ask questions. Gather knowledge, gather wisdom ... be one with the issue (and have good boundaries). Learn all that you can, experience all that you can, distill the information and then share it with us.
Life is moving so fast. Life is so precious. There are no guarantees. We're in this together.
Prayers go out to everyone who is being impacted by the floods right now and to everyone who is helping.
the waters coming down earlier this week
on unceded Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh Territory
Nov 15, 2021
Comments