Why I do what I do

Why I do what I do

I feel like I’m overdue for my bi-annual gratitude rant. So here it is.

I spend a good portion of my time thinking “why do I do what I do?” It’s not lucrative. It’s labour intensive. It’s repetitive in some ways (though not as much as some other ways of earning a living, admittedly.)

And then sometimes, I get an epiphany about how important and special it is to work towards providing space. Just that. Giving space, holding space. Whatever you want to call it.

We are undeniably in a space crisis, in Vancouver, right now. And in a lot of ways, it’s a privilege. A privilege to claim space. A privilege to offer it.

We need space to assemble. To connect. To come together. Maybe that sounds hippy and idealistic. But there is no real substitute for the physical realm.

I am so proud, and so pleased, to offer a space for people to come together. We had a really amazing event at the studio tonight. And it’s so easy to get caught up in the work of taking care of people, and get disgruntled about the mess they make, and the somewhat unsatisfying work of cleaning up after them, regardless of how well they take care themselves.

But at the end of the day, that is what this work is. The taking of care. The making of space. And I wouldn’t change it.

Every small, social kindness, is noticed and appreciated. And loved. For every time I load a dishwasher, there’s someone else who loaded it too.

That may seem like minutia, and it is. But that’s the work, of taking care. And thank you, for taking it with me.

I’m tired, right now. And overwhelmed. With how big a job it is, with the number of moving pieces. This was an extremely challenging week for me, in many aspects.

So it seems like a necessary thing to exercise some gratitude, not in 100 days, but at least in this one.

Thank you. For taking care with me. For coming over, for bringing you. For reading this far.

I haven’t had a second to process my Sleep Out experience last week, and I feel like it’s going to be a different piece than what I would have written, given the time for contemplation. And I hope you’ll read that too, when I get around to processing it. Hopefully in the next days.

I have a mission, and a purpose. And I’m thankful for that every day, even if my face says otherwise.

I hope I say it often enough, but I could not do this without you. Thank you, my takers of care. The people around me, doing extraordinary things. Who else gets to experience first hand the awesomeness of people doing shit, than providers of space for doing the awesome shit? I’m humbled, by the awesome shit you do.

There’s a doubt piece too. Is this the thing, that I should be working on, that I should do. And I think it is. I hope it is. You doing it with me makes me more sure. Thank you. I love you.

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