River Roots Redevelopment: Says Who?

Selina Pedi-Smith,

Founder, Pellere Foundation

Each week, when I sit down to figure out what I’m going to write about, I usually go back and read the last column or two and see where my thoughts want to go next.

I got to the last sentence of last week’s article, though, and stopped. “Where a little attention, a little adjustment, could tip something back in the right direction.” I stopped, and I thought… “According to who, Bub?”

Now, you may remember, I was the one who wrote that sentence. I was the one doing the thinking, the observing, the typing. But apparently, I am also very likely to read my own words and immediately question them.

Because that phrase - “the right direction” - slipped out so easily last week. It felt obvious. Natural, even. But just now, just as easily, my brain says, “Hang on a second… who exactly gets to decide what the ‘right’ direction is?”

And THEN my brain goes…well, in many directions at once. Because if there isn’t one clear, universal “right direction,” then what are we all doing when we form opinions? When we decide something matters enough to say out loud?

Because we do. We all do. Not because we think we know everything, but because we know what we know. We’ve lived what we’ve lived. And we have a million different specific reasons for wanting to share our specific perspectives.

Which leads to…a lot of noise, sometimes. Millions of perspectives, all vying for space. And yes, I’m part of that right now. Adding to the noise. So…Why? Why can’t I just…hush and live my life?

Well, for most of my life that’s exactly what I’ve done. Hush. Don’t make waves. Because who am I to throw around my opinion about what’s the right direction for anything?

And, to be fair…that’s not the absolute worst instinct in the world.

There’s a lot to be said for listening. For paying attention. For recognizing that other people have lived things we haven’t, seen things we haven’t, learned things we haven’t.

But taken too far, that instinct turns into something else: silence. Not thoughtful silence. Not the kind that listens and learns. Just…absence. The kind that hides and avoids.

And I simply don’t think that’s any healthier than spouting off all the time.

Because if everyone stays quiet, waiting until they are absolutely certain, absolutely informed, absolutely beyond question…

Well.

Nothing gets said at all. No ideas get tested. No perspectives get shared. No adjustments get made. We just sit there, individually very thoughtful, and collectively very stuck.

So somewhere in the middle of all that - between saying everything and saying nothing - is where I seem to land these days.

Not because I think I’m “right.” But because I think it’s worth putting a thought out there, seeing how it holds up, and revisiting it if it doesn’t.

Which brings me back to that line about the “right direction.”

While I have many, many (so many) opinions about a wide range of topics, I don’t get to decide what’s right for everything.

But I do get to decide what’s right for the things that matter enough to me to pay attention to, learn about, form an opinion on - and then actually do something about.

Like, oh…fixing up a blighted building or three. www.linkedin.com/in/selinapedismith

The truth we co-create matters more than the stories we tell ourselves later.

Be brave enough to fact-check your own narrative.

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Rachel Brosnahan is the Community Engagement Coordinator for River Roots Redevelopment. Want to help us rethink what redevelopment can look like—together? Follow the conversation and share your thoughts with us on Facebook and LinkedIn, or reach out directly to rachel@riverrootsredevelopment.org. We’d love to hear from you!