This is hard! Working in the inner-city, I see a lot of things I never would have anywhere else. Every person I see tends to be in some sort of urgent situation that feels like it needs immediate attention. I find myself always attempting to give that attention, and that is tiring, that is a huge weight. How can one person help 5-10 people through their daily emergency each and every day. So-and-so is getting hit by her boyfriend, I think so-and-so might be getting molested, so-and-so will be homeless if they can’t get $200 together, so-and-so is so drunk they can’t find their way home, so-and-so hasn’t eaten in three days.
WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO!? I love these people, they are my friends, and they are in crisis. I asked my friend Robb Massey that question one day over lunch, and his response caught me.
The people in Point Douglas, they need you, they need you to be there a long time. They need someone who is committed to them, and doesn’t just show up pretending to care and leaving when it get’s hard, so “…It’s more important that you are there 12 years, then that you respond to whatever current emergency there is.”
Woah, I knew he was right, I knew I was being very reactionary, and not thinking about how to be there for this community for the long term. I know I need to think like this more often.
It is more important that I be here for a long time, then that I respond to whatever current emergency there is.