Well, I’ve arrived in Boston!
The heat greeted me as soon as I stepped off the plane, punctuating my arrival on this coast. I had a lovely conversation with the woman next to me on the plane, a longtime Bostonian originally from Puerto Rico. She shared some of her life story, and those of her three children – one of whom lives in the Portland area – all of whom have chosen different life paths.
And, I’ve had a wonderfully warm welcome here so far! My hosts are gracious and fascinating people, with extensive bookshelves full of all kinds of interesting-looking books about topics ranging from animal activism to NVC to polyamory to psychology/personal development to anarchism and all kinds of conscious ways of living. I doubt I’ll have time to read any of them while I’m here, but it inspires me to simply be surrounded by such books and to know they exist.
One of my hosts, Hillary, treated me to dinner in Cambridge last night (where my father attended MIT in the 1960s) at the Veggie Galaxy restaurant; I hope and plan to return to Cambridge later in the trip. Perhaps offer some empathy in Harvard Square?
Today I’ll be meeting up with a new friend for lunch, and then staying with a former coworker and her husband in Salem tonight. I’m looking forward to seeing them.
And – most relevant to this blog, of course – I will be doing my first empathy stint of the tour today! I’m excited, and a little nervous. I will be using the same cardboard sign I made, and used, in Portland; after much effort and gnashing of teeth about how I could create a durable, packable, and waterproof sign – using Tyvek, wooden dowels, and tent-seam sealer – I finally realized I could simply fold my existing sign. Not waterproof… but otherwise packable and fully functional. Duh. 🙂
So… I’m curious to see where I will choose to offer empathy first. Perhaps Boston Common? And, of course, I’m curious to see how it will be received, and what I will hear. I imagine it will be similar to Portland: people will be curious, some will want to talk about what I’m doing, and some will want to talk about whatever is on their minds or weighing on their hearts at the moment. I expect I will receive it all joyfully and curiously.
Let the adventure begin!