People change you, you change the world.

Life is messy. Yet what unites and binds humans is greater than what divides us.

For all the noise in the media, there are still spaces for people to meet.

More than spaces.

While in our daily lives we may have to be defined as left - right - up - down - multi - coloured - plain

Daughter - mother - spouse - blonde girl with glasses -

When we meet we know we defy labels - we delabel.

But we have to meet. We have to constructively clash so our ideas can be born in the fire of debate.

.... music, dance, food, drink - art - poetry - conversation - these core pieces of humanity - these are the fuels...

When we humans meet in these activities they are the concentrated renewable energy that fuel our discussions - our debates - our loves - our passions - our fights - our peaces.

It may seem we are in a divisive age. But I’d like to suggest we continue to be also in an age of hope. Many matters of humanity (cf Hans Rosling) are improving. We live longer, we read more, we are healthier than we’ve ever been - our challenges are still great and terrible - but to meet them -

Concerned - passionate people are still meeting.

And when we meet we listen and exchange - and we will stand for each other -

And so it will be when a synagogue is in danger - we will have connected and we will stand -
When a mosque is in danger - - we will have connected and we will stand - when a church is in danger - - we will have connected and we will stand - when humanity is in danger - we will stand -

We will argue over freedoms - but will stand with freedom
We will argue over humanity - but we will stand with humanity
We will argue over rights - but we will stand with rights
We will argue over people - but we will stand with the people

Does this happen only with the so-called elites? De-label. No. It is everywhere.

Where we meet - we still exchange and leave all the better for it - drained and replenished

It’s messy. Answers are missing only some times found. Lines are crossed. Redrawn. fudged. Drawn again. It’s gloriously messy and absolutely worth saving - perhaps that’s what I found in what it is to be human in the months travels.