While sitting in a coffee shop, catching up with my dad over the holidays, I posed this question: “What’s been on your mind lately?” He paused for a moment, smiled and said, “Who taught you that question?”

The reality is I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, which probably prompted me to ask the question in the first place. And although I’m sure you’d love to hear what’s been on my dad’s mind, I’m going to tell you what’s been rolling around in my head over the past few months.

At times I feel like I’m living a double life. Monday through Thursday I get up, put on a pair of nice black pants, button up my blouse and hop on my bike to the Renaissance Center where I work. During the day, I’m living the life of a college educated, young professional. I sit in on meetings, answer emails, and plan events, all the while looking out of the big shiny windows of the Renaissance Center at the vast city of Detroit. Around me, I know there are thousands of other people looking out these very windows, looking past the city and thinking about their own families, passions and concerns. There are people all over downtown doing the same, from the top of Compuware Building to the basement of the Chrysler Building.

When I look out these windows, my mind does not wander to a life ten or twenty miles away. I think Detroit. I think about the hungry people in the city and the lack of safe bus stops for Detroiters. I think about the neighborhoods without access to fresh food, the hundreds of thousands of Detroit residentswithout access to transportation or a job,and the organizations and people working endless hours to overcome these challenges. I think about all of the fun nights I’ve had, exploring new restaurants, festivals and museums, and consequently, about the people who don’t have the time or money to do the same. My thoughts are filled with concern for those citizens who don’t have the opportunity to look at Detroit from a safe, bird’s eye view like I do at work. Above all, I think about how unfair it seems for me to be reaping the benefits of an incredible year of leadership development in Detroit when so many around me will never know such opportunities even exist.

I look away from the massive Renaissance Center windows and concentrate again on my work, feeling overwhelmed and helpless. I can’t put these thoughts and feelings better than my friend recently put the myriad of emotions that come with thinking about the state of Detroit and so many other places around the world: “I have a tendency to get incredibly discouraged by both the shallowness/emptiness of people and the despondency of world events…I feel overwhelmed in my attempts to make the world a better place. I start thinking about one issue, which leads to another, and, soon enough, I’ve hit terminal velocity within a descending spiral.”

On Challenge Detroit Fridays, I have a chance to climb out from the bottom of this spiral. I get to step out from behind the shiny windows and immerse myself in the changing Detroit landscape upon which my coworkers look out.While engaging with community members and stakeholders, I get to stop thinking about the issues I mentioned and start questioning their origin, understanding their depth and formulating solutions. On weeknights and weekends, I have time to read articles about race relations, housing development and progress in Detroit. I walk the streets and see the reflection of the still broken city in the windows of Dan Gilbert’s buildings.

But what can I really do? Sure, I can volunteer my time and be a part of the change, but it doesn’t feel like enough. I can dedicate my life to one cause and try to make a difference, but again,it doesn’t feel like enough. Something about the system needs to change, something big, something that gets to the root of all of these interconnected issues and breaks this institutional inequality under which we live. My point though is not that we, as individuals, should feel helpless in making this world more just, equal and sustainable.

In college I learned that the answer is always both. And that’s what I see in Detroit. The two worlds I described, one of individuals that solely work in the city and one of those that live (or live and work) in the city, rarely interact in meaningful ways. Each operates within the same city limits and each must begin to find value in the other. There will always be corporate donations and grassroots movements, but alone, neither can make sustainable change. Because when more people care, change happens faster. When relationships form, change happens faster. Without this synergy there will always be two worlds. There will always be those that can choose to work and not live in the city, and those that don’t have the choice. Of course, there is a growing group that does both, but three groups is not the goal. What we want is a unified group of citizens fighting for a more equal, livable place to call home.

So now that you’ve heard me babble, what’s been on your mind lately?