“Knowing who they’re with helps them know where they’re at and where they want to be.” -Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals, pg. 53

                In some ways it’s been a hard few months, and two weeks ago my partner commented: you’ve been going for walks with people less often. So I started reaching out. Inviting friends to the park. To the neighborhoods between our houses. Asking: when’s a good time?
                Earlier today I thought about those walks while walking back to my house from a chat with four other artists. We talked about our processes, what we were making. I got to see some of their pieces, including a sculpture like a three dimensional window peering into the sky, inviting me to lean forward, to breathe, to find that we’re breathing. Our conversation returned again and again to the compassion and joy of accountability. To the power of making as part of our relationships together, of how we’re responsible to each other, of what we share.
                Knowing who I’m with helps me know where we’re at and where we want to be. Art is one way to invite that knowing. These steps. And here I am, tired, getting ready for bed, alone at my kitchen table—and walking again beneath the sky that sculpture opened.