What I learned in 2020

I am trying to live more intentionally. Choosing those that choose me. Appreciating those that have loved me over the years and being more intentional about how I choose to spend my time because it is all that I have, realistically. I also have the gift of the people that love me. My family, my friends who see me in ways that sometimes shocks me. Loving and being loved back for who we are is really undervalued in our current world but it’s the true gift that we have.

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Being my Parents' Daughter - Thoughts from my Journal

The biggest lesson I have learned these past few months has been: Love is a verb, appreciate is a verb, value is a verb and just singing about them or saying them is not enough when corresponding actions are not applied to these verbs. When corresponding actions are not applied, in most cases the opposite is true. I am so glad I learned this lesson at home because of the parents I have.

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Sophie Otiendefamily, values, love, home
The Low Bar of Becoming a Hero

NGOs made activism a profession and I struggle with that. I struggle with the fact that people can see injustice and walk away because they believe there is someone else responsible for fixing injustice. I struggle with being called a hero because what I have done is the work of an active citizen and we shouldn't be applauding people for the basic actions of being an active citizen.

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Concept of Home (Part One) - Ivy

There had been several women that had been killed before Ivy, but Ivy's death lingered. I remember what I was wearing when I read her story, and I remember the sounds, I remember being frozen, and I remember the distinct smell of fear. I remember the fear because when I think of the trauma I have gone through and think of what has lingered, it is the fear that I am not safe and the fear that I could be abused again that has remained.

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