The predominant narrative in our wider culture is that human beings were made for conflict, for dominating one another, for 'getting ahead' of one another. But that's only one story. What if human beings were made for meeting one another, for welcome, for mutual wonder and mutual seeing, for cooperation, for the intertwining of our many gifts? For giving, even when we ourselves have not received and are hurting. For seeing without being seen first. For holding without being held before. 
 
This week's Turning Towards Life is a conversation about what it might take to really welcome one another, hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

This is Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn dive deep into big questions of human living. Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify.

Here's our source for this week, chosen for us by Justin.

When we meet

by Emma Ashru Jones

When we meetI don’t just want to meet your perfectly polished self;The productive, capable, holding-it-all-together extraordinaire.I want to meet you.I want to meet your middle-of-the-night fears and the whispers of your longings.I want to meet your heart and to hear what she has to say.I want to meet your wildest desires and the dreams so tender they dare not be declared.I want to greet your despair at the door and welcome her in from the coldAnd offer your confusion a cushion to lean back into.I want to welcome your body that has carried you this far,To give her a place to rest and be recognised - wise one that she is.I want to listen to the part of you that is beyond languageAnd to give your imagination a paintbrush and let her play.I want you to meet your whole self anew,And to see the truth:That you never needed to be fixed.That your life was never a problem to be solved,But a moment to be met.

Emma Ashru Jones www.emmaashrujones.com

Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash