Today my sister turns 20. It’s a day to celebrate, of course! I am a proud older brother.
Moved by the date, I found myself reminiscent, looking at her own journey through life and our relationship over these years.
One of my personal favorite pieces of writing is an essay called “I am the monster you created” and it talks about brothers, sisters and empathy.
In it, I talked about how, some actions may look questionable or even “wrong” in our view and yet, perfectly logical once we step into the other person's worldview.
Well, maybe empathy is a currency we rarely use to observe people that don't fit in our model of the world and we should work on changing that. Not knowing the stories and the narratives behind individuals and their behaviors make judgment the obvious choice. That doesn't mean it's the right one.
I’m happy that I ended up re-reading this essay because I needed to hear this today. Both for my sister but also for everyone around me.
After all, empathy, the right kind of it, is a direct sign of Métis manifestation.