It’s about 3 pm on a lovely fall day. I’m walking along the Bay and finally decided it is time to write. To be clear I didn't really decide it was more that I could no longer focus on walking. This is one of a series of three started simultaneously October 20, 2022 and completed November 8, 2022 in bed - all on iPhone.
Much of 2022 was spent trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. This included taking stock of what it seems I already am or at least what I created. jdcPARTNERSHIPS is one manifestation of that clarity as now, current endeavors (I.e., Equitable Evaluation Initiative and Luminare Group) are organized under a parent entity. That feels right and it was affirming to see a through line since 2002.
But now as I meet new people and we do the dreaded introductions (ok maybe others enjoy), I find myself not knowing what to say. I have more roles than I am comfortable with and they speak more of functions I play within an organizational construct than what I am, do or am in practice to be.
In the past I have referred to myself as a consultant, not an evaluator, facilitator, strategist, etc. None of these fully reflect what exists between and among those roles or the heartbeat and experiences embodied in all of them.
I don’t like labels and yet, I understand how they might help someone come into a relationship.
And now at this stage and in this season I desire a different language to convey what I hope to do which is to inspire, invite, name, liberate, etc.
Welcome ideas. Truly. English not required or even desired TBH.
For now when asked to introduce myself I will say,
I am Jara, a descendant of free, stolen and enslaved peoples. I desire a world where - among a host of things- who we are is welcomed, honored and reflected in how we construct and use knowledge. I wish us each to move beyond narratives which limit and towards collective possibilities reflecting love and abundance. And I desire a world where dragons fly amongst us. Again.
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