I’ve been thinking a lot lately, about transparency and what it would mean for our leaders, care givers, systems and institutions to engage in more practices of transparency. I’m reminded of a heart breakingly beautiful section in Ta-Nehisi Coats “The Water Dancer” where a mother, with the aide of the Underground Railroad in the back waters of the American south, flees her slave masters, and must explain to the ones she has to leave behind, why it has to be so... ‘I am so sorry, baby, but I gotta go.’ And I, being young and loving my momma, I said, ‘Momma, why can’t we go with you?’ And my momma she said...she said, ‘ ’Cause I can only carry so many, and them only so far.’ What would it, what could it mean if those leading the way forward where allowed the space to be vulnerable. To be able to admit when an answer wasn’t clear, or an intention had gone astray, or quite simply, to be able to say “I am sorry”. As naive as it may feel, the simplicity in accountability in addressing when something hasn’t worked, when there has been a misunderstanding, has a power all of its own. We have seen throughout history the power of the communal body and what happens when those forging the path forward, are able to lean on those who look to them, for guidance. I have also been thinking a lot about what it means to cut ties from systems, institutions, communities, relationships or structures, that carry within them, abusive mechanics in order to work, in order to produce. Here we have a point of friction. The grace in allowing room for error and the trust in allowing both parties to carry forward in good merit what they have both learned, rubbing up against the honesty in removing oneself from a connection that has proved itself unable to meet the requirements for a healthy connection. I come to think of the word “pioneer” and what it truly means. Not the heroic westernized idea of being a pioneer, but the messy, painful, beautiful and necessary process of seeking and cultivating that which has not made itself clear to you. Of finding a truth and an energy that aligns with your spirit. Of finding harmony. What does a bridge through the middle passage look like?