Included ?

What to do if you cannot maintain eye contact or you cannot think up chit chat? How do you manage the school gates, the parties, the events? Where do you stand and where do you look? Just a couple of the many dynamics that some in our society have to navigate day in day out. Should some remain isolated just because they live or see the world differently to the majority?

Inclusion for me isn’t another one size fits all but a genuine interest in and a learning of another fellow human being. A unique human being. A curiosity about who this person is and what makes them who they are. A journey to be travelled together. Finding the touchpoints where we can connect, and we usually can.

I believe that there are so many rich treasures to be discovered when we take time out of our busy schedules to truly understand one another, especially amongst those who are different to us. Often wisdom is stumbled upon as we consider what it is to be human and as we re-learn how to relate to one another.

Sometimes it can feel awkward. Maybe that’s why many of us shy away? But the temporary awkwardness is so worth it if long lasting friendships are made. We all function best in the context of relationship. Why should anyone be left out?

However, alternative ways of connecting  don’t always fit in with societal expectations. Tragically society can pull us off in the opposite direction. Fear is often the driver behind relational withdrawal. Relational distance seems to have sadly remained, despite us no longer being directed to be physically distanced in social bubbles. A legacy perhaps of a global pandemic?

What might it take to not exclude anymore, to move outside of our familiar, our known family and friends? To embrace our differences. To communicate a shared humanity. What or who has to change?

Louise Michelle Bombèr