A major observation that I’ve had thus far within Detroit and at my job is the importance of being intentional of showing up and being present.
In the office, Skylar and I are upstairs, away from the hustle and bustles of children, family, and programming occurring just a flight of stairs away. We both love children and youth development, but when you get so wrapped up in your work to create spaces for these children to thrive, you can miss what is right in front of you. Brilliant Detroit’s Osborn house just had their first community dinner, which happens monthly at each house; Skylar, Emma (who works for the Osborn Neighborhood Alliance), and I were able to attend to get to know community members better and offer support on such a momentous day. We ended up spending time with the children outside so that parents were able to have a minute to hear more about the site, and generally be able to relax. With these kids, there was an impromptu performance, story telling, hair-braiding, and a few snapchat selfies taken throughout the night, all of which were adorable.
It was amazing spending time with these young minds because I was reminded of how much I love children! I truly think that children are so powerful, insightful, and filled with potential, however, by not being as much of a part of the programming, I was missing out on getting to hear about these children’s experiences, and learning about how to help them grow. Similarly, within Detroit, if someone wants to genuinely learn about the city, they have to take the initiative to go to events, be critical in their thinking and their consumption of the city (shoutout to Lia for that, it’s stayed on my mind). I’m excited to continue to push myself to explore Detroit as a critical, ethical inhabitant over the next few weeks.
I do the same thing (get so wrapped up in my work that I fail to see whats in front of me). I think what you’re doing at Brilliant Detroit is amazing.