I had the opportunity to meet with many people that I now consider to be heroes of mine and who helped to prove that the impossible is always achievable in time. These exemplars included the people and leaders I met in Rwanda, civil rights leaders Julian Bond and John Lewis, the incredible women in Ireland who went on strike until Ireland stood against apartheid, and current activists I got to hear from including Rosa Clemente, Bryan Stevenson, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. I also got to hear the stories of incredible changemakers at the ADL Concert Against Hate, all of whom fought against the odds to act meaningfully for peace and love. I also got to participate in projects that seemed impossible at the start. SR's TEDx took huge amounts of time and stretched me in important ways, which made its great success feel all the more rewarding. Similarly, I worked in the winter to put together the Coalition of Local Student Activists. Other social justice educators in the area and I had an idea of crafting a collaboration between our students to give them a voice to speak out about injustice, and it worked. The result was that COLSA students led SR through a powerful week of awareness raising about Black Lives Matter and Baltimore.
I experienced art that moved me this year. Whether it was great concerts (Ed Sheeran, Neon Trees, Sweey Honey in the Rock), comedy (Trevor Noah, Drag Race Battle of the Seasons Tour), film (Chi-Raq, Creed, The Danish Girl), literature (Citizen), or the life-changing Hamilton, art this year brought me joy and helped me think deeply. And I integrated daily poetry into my life. I found that poetry is a means of enriching my spirituality, and I used poems to bookend my days and my connect me to my Light.
My trips to Spain, Tanzania, and Rwanda taught me how important it is to learn from the rest of the world. Before I got to Spain, I hadn't been excited about the trip. I didn't know much about Spain, and I didn't think it had a rich history that I could connect with. Instead, I discovered my love of flamenco, cathedrals, and Don Quixote. Tanzania was so full of joy and beauty. Rwanda gave me heart; it is the physical manifestation of all that I believe in.
This was the year that I developed routines for reading, writing, and meditating. It is the year that I wholeheartedly committed to sleeping. And I learned to run for fun through running with the cross country team and with Adult Running Club. I took an amazing "Habits of Writing" class through which I learned about how habits develop by intentionality. With intentionality and practice, there are no limits to what I am capable of.
This year I developed a deeper sense of the power of my voice. I have started to blog more regularly, and I put my blog on my Twitter and Facebook accounts so that people would know about it. I was already proud of my Twitter account as a way for me to spread love and inspiration, and my blog builds on that foundation using my own words. I also had rich opportunities for leadership this year in arenas that I care about. Being on the QPIN Steering Committee is the most tangible foothold I've had in the Palestinian rights movement. My being asked to serve as co-clerk of one of the SSFS board committees was also a real confidence boost in knowing that my voice is valued.
I had a few needed retreats. The school offered a retreat focused on spirituality and the reflection that I was able to do at that retreat helped to fuel the rest of my year. Similarly, I had the chance to go to the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, which deepened my understanding of and commitment to Catholic Social Teaching. I now have every confidence that the social justice work that I do for SR is rooted in our Catholic mission. Through the CSMG and the retreat, I was able to form a vision of our next steps with Social Action and I got that vision approved. I also crafted my own yoga retreat in both the summer and the last week of the year, taking a yoga class every day and being reminded of my strength and my peace.
There is nothing that I believe in more than the power of love. My faith in love was renewed time and again this year. Whether I was spending time with my fabulous family or one of my amazing non-traditional families, I was stronger for having such impressive teams in my corner. My best friend got married and I got to be her maid of honor - what an honor indeed! I don't know that I have ever experienced joy quite so wholly as I did at her wedding. Is there a purer form of love than what we get to see at weddings? Perhaps best of all was an article in the school paper about my commitment to love and joy. It ended with: "In our community, everyone is affectionately familiar with Ms. Brownlee’s theory that love is always the answer. However, we often take that lesson in stride, not dismissing it, but just accepting it as part of Ms. Brownlee’s identity and not part of our own; it’s her “thing.” Here’s the wild conclusion that I came to after speaking with Ms. Brownlee: joy is not exclusive. Finding the same amount of joy in a salad as in a trip to Rwanda does not diminish your joy, it merely increases your opportunities to be joyous."
May 2016 be as positive and productive.
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