Look at it Differently

Dear Jessica Brennan,

There is a part of our town called Old East Village that over the years was sadly let go. The homes there are beautiful but many were a bit run down and the shops looked tired.  The characters that settled there were a bit suspicious looking and it wasn’t a part of town you would venture into at night.

Until someone looked at it differently.

Someone looked at it and instead of seeing what it lacked, they saw what it offered. Well built heritage homes boasting unique features of the era from when they were built. Beautiful facades on shop fronts that had been overlooked. And opportunities. So many opportunities for people to buy their first house, renovate space into their perfect home or open a business that would allow them to live and work in the same community.

This movement came from the people.  It was an honest transition, un-mandated and organic.  Over a few short years, once the perspective changed, there were new shops, microbreweries, a cheese shop, and butcher.  Painters, poets, and musicians now walk next to entrepreneurs, and there is a vibrant energy that has replaced what once was a depressed and neglected tone.

So I was thinking, as I do, what if we applied the same philosophy to how we look at people?

There are neglected populations in our cities. People of different ethnic backgrounds, people living in poverty, people with disabilities, elderly people of all classes, children, and youth.

Instead of seeing what people lack what if we looked at what they offer? Strong personalities and perspectives with fantastic stories. We have a chance to celebrate beautiful faces unlike our own, and opportunities, so many opportunities, for an organic and vibrant energy to replace what once was a depressed and neglected tone.   

If we changed our perspective about people what new vitality might we see?

We all like to talk a big game about everyone being worthy of love, a voice, and a good life, but we need to actually mean it.  Everyone means everyone. That means me and you and the guy who preaches to himself outside the Tim Hortons and the family who just arrived from a faraway land, and the woman pushing all her worldly belongings in a shopping cart. It means the great-grandmother and the ten-year-old. If you don’t mean everyone, then find a different word.

Love,

Mum xo

If you enjoy this blog please follow and share. That’s how others find us and how we know if you are enjoying the content. Also, find us on Facebook, and Instagram @DearJessicaBrennan and on twitter @DearJessBrennan