See you again

To say that I worked with The Rapidian for two and a half years would be accurate but, more than that, I breathed it.

I made up my job title: citizen journalism coordinator. Vague, right? That was intentional, and as we grew, I've had my hands in everything, from partnerships and collaborations to editorial structure and web strategy to design and outreach. Whew. I was always spinning from the rush and sparkle of more opportunities than we had time to grasp.

After more than two years in a city where I've learned (and am still learning) what's important, I am stepping down to pursue other opportunities. It's tempting to stay where you are when you're content, but that's the best time to push onward and open up. 

And here's where I'm grateful: I don't need to wait ten years to know what I will remember down the road. It's the people. 

I witnessed the end of a 30-year writer's block. I showed a rambunctious seven year-old how to use an audio recorder and was interviewed by a student about who I want to meet most in the world (a question I'm still chewing on seven months later). It was a community partner opening up to me about his ethnic-American experience in Grand Rapids, a woman who practiced in front of a mirror to find her voice in front of a camera, people who have never been invited to create media realizing that their perspectives meant something to people they had never met.

Somebody recently asked me if an idea he was mulling over was worthy of The Rapidian. I was surprised to hear him phrase it that way, because—cheese alert—really, I always think of it as, "is The Rapidian worthy of your story?" You are giving something of yourself when you contribute to this cooperative, and that's something to celebrate, something to be grateful for.

Growing up, my mom told me I traveled the world in my dreams (what she really meant was I'm a nightly toss-and-turner). In so many languages, "goodbye" promises a next encounter. Ci vediamo (Italian, we will see each other), hasta la vista (Spanish - until the seeing), zài jiàn (Chinese - see you again). I am so grateful, Grand Rapids, that you gave me a piece of yourself, and I hope that I've been able to give you a piece of me, too. Sala hantle (Sesotho - remain well), and see you again.