When I created this blog and thought of a url for it I didn't really fully understand the weight of what "moments that make your life" meant. I can look back and see all those beautiful, difficult, joyous, exhausted moments that compose my life thus far. But what I have learned in the past two weeks is that every moment is defining who you are. A little over a year ago I boarded a plane to San Diego CA to start working with Invisible Children- but I nearly didn't get on the plane. My head almost over ruled the call in my heart....almost.
Whatever course of life I was on in that moment, the moments that had led me there, were re routed. The doubt and "what ifs" plagued me the entire 15 hour journey to San Diego. But there was an undeniable quiet whisper echoing in the deepest part of my heart that it was right, that it was time to go. That it would take more courage for me to board a plane into an unknown- uncharted chapter than it would not to.
This past year I have worked harder, loved more, learned more and been challenged to greater depths than I have ever been in my twenty-five years. But walking into what you deeply know is apart of your destiny shouldn't be easy. The past two weeks have felt like time suspended- where it sped up and slowed down making everything magnified. Two weeks ago IC launched a film online with the hopes, that along with other highly important parts of the campaign, that the film would receive 500,000 views. Within less than 14 days- over a 100,000,000 have watched it. ( I typed out all those zeros because it blows my mind). For some reason this moment was different, and it struck a cord in the universe. We woke up the world to one of the worlds worst criminals and asked them to stand beside us in the work to bring him to justice. No details are necessary for how crazy it's been. All I do know is that within about 24 hours of our work being known on an international platform- a hurricane of goodness- of skepticism ensued. It was easy to see that everything so many people had worked for was happening, but on a scale none of us could comprehend.
There will be many moments of the past two weeks (probably the rest of this year) that I will not remember well. What I will remember is how much I have learned about the goodness of the human heart, of a person who stands firm in courage for a fight greater than themselves. That when the hurricane ensues you stand at the epic center screaming at the wind and rain "DO YOUR WORST" .....for ours is a fight for the safety, peace and restoration of others. That through fighting on behalf of others who have no voice you find your own. There is no question in my mind and in my heart that goodness and truth wants to be the loudest in the room, but it is almost nearly drowned out by the critics and the skeptics for they have been robbed of their simple belief that humanity can be good. The courage it takes for goodness and love to be the loudest in the room in the face of adversity is great- but that moment has arrived.
I keep imagining the past two weeks as a Hurricane, and although not the biggest fan of FL, having over ten years to experience first hand what a hurricane is like I can safely say they are one of the most incredible natural disasters. There is an electrying urgency in the air for days before they arrive- an anticipation so palable you touch it. Clouds gather- then scatter. It rains, it's sunny. People prepare for the moment it arrives, precautions for self and home are taken, and families gather together to wait it out. It can come in the night or middle of the day- there is no exact timing. But when the eye of the storm passes over you....it is intense. Your body tightens with anxiety and you have to work to calm your heart. For in those moments you have done everything you can to prepare- and now it's not up to you. All you can do is stay together, ready to protect one another at a moments notice or be ready to move quick and efficiently if need be. You never know what it will require of you. The rain comes down hard, it beats the side of the house, rips trees, floods streets, washes away homes, takes down power lines- total destruction in some places. But for the vast majority, if you take a deeper look, you see families gathered together, ready to battle mother nature fiercely if necessary.
But then......the hurricane blows over. What is easily forgotten about hurricanes is the days that come immediately after. They are also some of my most favorite days. The wind is a beautiful calm, the air so clean and crisp as if it was a new beginning. Families spend more time together than usual because all of the distractions are aside, the weather is stunning, and hope fills you- because you weathered the storm with all it's unknowns.
Who would have ever though that fighting injustice in it's greatest forms of evil would not bring on a hurricane of great proportions....certainly not Martin Luther King Jr, the Freedom Riders, or any of the brave human beings in history that found their voice. That made their voices drown out the critics- the skeptics. For they knew in their moments of time that their cause was too great, too important to not push forward til the storm passed.
When I boarded that plane a year ago- this is not the story I could have seen being written. A chapter that I could not have predicted, a hurricane I didn't know I needed to be prepared for. But what is ironic and brilliant is that all of those moments that led me here and the quiet whisper in my heart prepared me for this time. I am proud to be in the eye of this storm with the people that have prepared for it, fought for it and have the courage to be louder than the critics. Because when the hurricane blows over, this family ( a bit larger than most) will be found intact. A bit tired from all the wind, rain and thunder but renewed in what is to come next.
-Suz
