Trying to take pause
@jangandfox on Instagram
Dear Reader,
How rare it is, for me to have the chance to write one of these letters to you. I haven’t done much writing in my time at Ethos (because I prefer talking to you at our events!!). This will be my fifth year with this lil’ publishing house, which can be a long or short time to stay in one place, depending on who you ask.
“Stay” might not be the right word to use, because to some it implies monotony and stagnation, when my time here has been anything but. I’ve also had the opportunity to develop passion projects over this extended period of time. Which, in this case, would be our annual women-led dialogue: Meeting in the Middle.
The point of me writing this letter isn’t just about promoting this upcoming event (of course, we’d love to have you with us 🌼), but to say that the past five years have been full of growth and change. Entering Ethos as a feminist in 2017, my idea of what feminism represents and asks for has evolved so much since then. From the starting point of “fighting for women’s rights”, through countless important conversations, the path ahead now forks and merges at the intersections with class, age, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability, and the environment. Insert the meme of the guy from It’s Always Sunny – that’s me… that’s me 😢
The map of connections sprawls out and the list goes on, and I believe that 5 years from now, my view of feminism will be different once again. I haven’t figured out how to split myself into two so that I can do all the things I want to and contribute to all these causes.
Amidst this self-imposed sense of guilt and responsibility, Meeting in the Middle is an annual reminder for me to get off my high horse and recognise that there are already amazing people out there doing the work, and what I can do as an individual is to sit with them for a while to listen and learn.
As a perennial do-er who needs to work on slowing down, this is easier said than done. But… I think I’ll manage.
Trying to take pause,
Jennifer
(March 27, 2021)
