I know I haven’t written in a while. Honestly, I think it's because I’m overwhelmed. There is so much breaking and beauty, tears and inspiration, that I don’t know where to begin. I’m scattered. I’ve been here for less than two months and I feel as though every day my heart either breaks or soars from another story I hear, person I meet, or program/business I hear about. This place is booming with beauty and becomings.
There’s St.Jude hospital that is literally saving children's’ lives in the most beautiful ways. There’s this mexican popsicle place that makes the most delicious handmade popsicles I’ve ever had. There’s free concerts at the Levitt Shell on the weekends. There are music videos and pop up street dances. There’s blues, jazz, hip hop, soul, rock and roll embedded in almost every cranny of this city from its legendary history to the bars on Beale street. There’s a park with bison and zip lines, and donut shops with pop up singers. There’re murals and a pyramid too. There’re dreams and community coming together in the transformation of an old Sears warehouse into the artful Crosstown Concourse. There’s spoken poetry, and libraries with escalators rising through its stories filled with books. Never have I been so exposed to so many blooming dreams.
There’s this tension between the way things are, and the belief that the way things are is not how they have to be.There’s this tension between what has become of this city, and what it can become.
Never before have I believed more in what I do, and it’s not even because I’m in a program where I’m seeing both the needs and possibilities of education in this city. No, it's more so because I am being exposed and introduced to so many fearless dreamers. People committed to more.
I started so many blog posts, but never felt like I had enough time or space to recount everything I was seeing and learning. Maybe if we grab coffee when I come home for Christmas. Maybe if we find time to skype, I can tell you some of my favorite stories. Or maybe you can come down here for yourself; see a few of the murals,visit some of the museums, listen to the rhythm of Memphis and be inspired to go on your way, back to your city and dream alongside your neighbors and friends. That’s what I plan to do with the new friends I’m making here. That’s what I plan to do in the lives of my students. To get to know them and teach them not so that they can merely learn a few things. No teach them so that they can be learners, lifelong learners, that let the knowledge they seek fuel the dreams they not only dream at night, but build in daylight. Learners that seek to learn about others, and become more because they build not by themselves, but alongside other fellow dreamers.
You may be a visionary, but dreams are never built alone. You may be a leader, but you would be nothing without the greatness to your right and left. It’s in the coming together that the great becomings are born out of.
Do you cook, paint, play music, play a sport, sell houses, build things, design things? Are you gifted with hospitality, encouragement, patience, vision. Are you a behind the scenes person, a planner, architect, or cheerleader? Are you a doer, a listener, a helping hand? There’s something of immense value in every person, and the most beautiful things are done in the coming together of many. It’s in the details of what each person adds, guides, sees, and makes happen that unfold into the most intricate masterpieces. It is the diversity of our minds, talents, hopes and dreams that grow into the most breathtaking gardens. Cities can become some of the most inspiring places if the people in them are coming together and seeing each other,not just passing by. Be inspired by the beauty you see in others, even in broken places. And then bloom alongside them. Let your life be part of a bouquet.
Crosstown Concourse (click to watch!)
