My youngest came running down the street a few weeks ago, crying. Something had taken place where she and friends had been playing, and she was upset and worried.
What happened isn’t important, but what she said to me was. Through her tears, she exclaimed, “Mama, you have to go over there because they’re struggling, and you understand struggles! Mama, pplleeaassee, go and talk to them.”
Her heart was broken. She was scared. And she realized that not everyone would be able to sit with them in that moment.
Truth of the Struggle
Fast forward to the day Steve (Novotney) asked me to write for his new venture. I struggled with what it was going to be called. What it would look like to have a platform? What if people didn’t like what I had to say? I allowed my excitement to morph into trepidation, and I almost changed my, “yes!” to an “I don’t know, man.” I couldn’t wrap my heart around anything that I had written, and then something happened late yesterday afternoon that spoke to me.
Why had I been making this so hard? I just needed to hold myself in the truth of the struggle. My story is one of struggle. I can identify with a wide set of labels: Only parent, working poor, grassroots organizer, middle-aged woman, and on and on and on.
So, here I am.
My wish for this platform is understanding. I spend my days seeking to understand, whether, just as an example, that’s someone’s reason not to work or someone’s lack of compassion for the less fortunate. I am constantly being forced to broaden my world view and challenge my personal beliefs.
My success in this new adventure will be measured by whether or not I challenge you, the reader, to do the same. There will be times that we feel uncomfortable. There will be times when neither of us want to take one more step in the direction we’re heading for a number of reasons.
As a very astute “tween” recently pointed out, understanding struggles is a gift I possess, and the best gifts are the ones that keep on giving.
Amy Jo Hutchinson is a part of Healthy Kids and Families Coalition.
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