I am Beloved. Cherished. Celebrated. I Belong.
Check out this TED Talk by Jacqueline Novogratz, Inspiring a Life of Immersion. If you have only a moment, for now, here is a glimpse of it via this excerpt about belonging, purpose, value, worthiness from some amazing fellas in the largest slum in the world: Kiera, Kenya.
“Sometimes very small investments can release enormous, infinite potential that exists in all of us. One of the Acumen Fund fellows at my organization, Suraj Sudhakar, has what we call moral imagination — the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes and lead from that perspective. And he’s been working with this young group of men who come from the largest slum in the world, Kibera. And they’re incredible guys. And together they started a book club for a hundred people in the slums, and they’re reading many TED authors and liking it. And then they created a business plan competition. Then they decided that they would do TEDx’s.
And I have learned so much from Chris and Kevin and Alex and Herbert and all of these young men. Alex, in some ways, said it best. He said,
We used to feel like nobodies, but now we feel like somebodies.
And I think we have it all wrong when we think that income is the link. What we really yearn for as human beings is to be visible to each other. And the reason these young guys told me that they’re doing these TEDx’s is because they were sick and tired of the only workshops coming to the slums being those workshops focused on HIV, or at best, microfinance. And they wanted to celebrate what’s beautiful about Kibera and Mathare — the photojournalists and the creatives, the graffiti artists, the teachers and the entrepreneurs. And they’re doing it. And my hat’s off to you in Kibera.”
Come, friends – let’s invite each other to become more courageously visible, immersed in life – beautiful and ugly, hard & easy – together. -Sarah DT
