<\/p>\n
Last Friday was our last \u2018Leadership Friday\u2019 in Challenge Detroit. Throughout the year, these days have been filled messages from influential community and business leaders, time for professional growth, and important conversations related to race and gentrification in Detroit.<\/p>\n
During this final Leadership Friday, we took time at the end of the day to express gratitude for what we have gained during\u00a0the fellowship. For me, this may have been the single more powerful thing we have experienced together as fellows.<\/p>\n
Even in the busiest of times, I have found that gratitude is the one \u2018trick\u2019 that almost never fails for putting life in perspective and reminding me that my worries are oftentimes irrelevant to the greater story and purpose of my life.<\/p>\n
Hearing all of the fellows\u2014my friends, colleagues, and teachers\u2014express gratitude was an incredibly powerful experience for me. Pain, joy, and nostalgia came out in tears and choked voices and I was reminded of the universality of the human experience.<\/p>\n
Through this experience, I could not help but reflect on the beginning of my Challenge Detroit year. We were asked to share a piece of ourselves in a 3-minute \u2018Ted Talk\u2019. During my talk, I decided to share a poem that is deeply personal for me. It is The Invitation<\/em> by Oriah and it speaks to the depth of the relationships I hope to cultivate throughout my life. As the Challenge Detroit year comes to a close, I find solace in trusting my many lifelong relationships have only just begun.<\/p>\n Below is the poem. Thanks for reading!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Invitation by Oriah<\/em><\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t interest me It doesn\u2019t interest me I want to know I want to know It doesn\u2019t interest me I want to know if you can see Beauty I want to know It doesn\u2019t interest me It doesn\u2019t interest me It doesn\u2019t interest me I want to know \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last Friday was our last \u2018Leadership Friday\u2019 in Challenge Detroit. Throughout the year, these days have been filled messages from influential community and business leaders, time for professional growth, and important conversations related to race and gentrification in Detroit. During this final Leadership Friday, we took time at the end of the day to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13086\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIt doesn\u2019t interest me
\nwhat you do for a living.
\nI want to know
\nwhat you ache for
\nand if you dare to dream
\nof meeting your heart\u2019s longing.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nhow old you are.
\nI want to know
\nif you will risk
\nlooking like a fool
\nfor love
\nfor your dream
\nfor the adventure of being alive.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nwhat planets are
\nsquaring your moon…
\nI want to know
\nif you have touched
\nthe centre of your own sorrow
\nif you have been opened
\nby life\u2019s betrayals
\nor have become\u00a0shriveled\u00a0and closed
\nfrom fear of further pain.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nif you can sit with pain
\nmine or your own
\nwithout moving to hide it
\nor fade it
\nor fix it.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nif you can be with joy
\nmine or your own
\nif you can dance with wildness
\nand let the ecstasy fill you
\nto the tips of your fingers and toes
\nwithout cautioning us
\nto be careful
\nto be realistic
\nto remember the limitations
\nof being human.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nif the story you are telling me
\nis true.
\nI want to know if you can
\ndisappoint another
\nto be true to yourself.
\nIf you can bear
\nthe accusation of betrayal
\nand not betray your own soul.
\nIf you can be faithless
\nand therefore trustworthy.<\/em><\/p>\n
\neven when it is not pretty
\nevery day.
\nAnd if you can source your own life
\nfrom its presence.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nif you can live with failure
\nyours and mine
\nand still stand at the edge of the lake
\nand shout to the silver of the full moon,
\n\u201cYes.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nto know where you live
\nor how much money you have.
\nI want to know if you can get up
\nafter the night of grief and despair
\nweary and bruised to the bone
\nand do what needs to be done
\nto feed the children.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nwho you know
\nor how you came to be here.
\nI want to know if you will stand
\nin the centre of the fire
\nwith me
\nand not shrink back.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nwhere or what or with whom
\nyou have studied.
\nI want to know
\nwhat sustains you
\nfrom the inside
\nwhen all else falls away.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nif you can be alone
\nwith yourself
\nand if you truly like
\nthe company you keep
\nin the empty moments.<\/em><\/p>\n