Hello friends – 

The Vancouver International Film Festival is on right now. I went and saw Smoke Sauna Sisterhood this week, an Estonian film about a group of women who get together once a season and have a sauna and talk. You don’t see most of their faces, just glimpses of body parts, sometimes another’s reaction to what someone is sharing. It was a very powerful movie. My friend and I left feeling sad and reflective. 

There were stories of mothers, lovers, recognition of one’s place in the world, being gay, dating, domestic abuse, rape, birth and death. 

It left me disheartened. Have the stories not changed? 

Do they ever change? 
Can we change them? 

I’m tired of these stories. Not tired of listening to them, tired of them still happening. 

I brought this to my mentor. She rebuked with – you’re making an assumption that this is suppose to change. That violence against women/children is suppose to stop. 

Well – ISN’T IT? I huffed back. 

How long have humans been around for? Why haven’t we been able to heal our own wounds so as not to pass them on to another? Now – I know the answers to these questions in my mind – it’s going to take a LOOOONG time to create a global shift but my heart – my heart breaks. 

My mentor waits a beat – You need to put down the assumption so that you can be open to what you can do. If you’re assuming, you’re not present. You’re anticipating. If you want to create change, you must innovate. Innovation does not come from assumptions.  

Sigh. She’s right. 
AAAAAAnd I don’t think it’s a wrong assumption to have. 

But yes, assume nothing. Instead observe and listen. Observe what’s showing up in front of me, what’s showing up inside of me and listen to the quiet voice within that whispers. 

Ok.

I leave this with you –
What assumptions (if any) have you made recently? When have you quite simply observed and listened? What were the outcomes of both or either?