It was week one on the job at Invisible Children, and my fellow interns and I had jumped headfirst into the largest event the organization had ever thrown: the 2013 Fourth Estate Leadership Summit. From the moment we walked into the office, it was impossible to miss that something truly astounding was about to take place on UCLA’s campus. I knew immediately that I needed to support this team with every ounce of my being. I needed to rise up and become visible.
Heading up to LA from our San Diego headquarters
On the first day of the Summit I pretended as though I wasn’t just as lost as the participants were around campus, and climbed staircase after staircase with a sense of urgency to get where I needed to be. Every one of us wore staff T-shirts, so to outside eyes the one-week-old interns were just as competent as the most experienced staff members. As the day rolled on, my anxiety escalated. That’s the thing about fear: you lose your ability to see things as they truly are. I simply couldn’t see that all of our guests were experiencing the best weekends of their lives because I was too afraid that they weren’t. I wasn’t seeing them.
I’m super official
I awoke early on the last day of the Summit and promised myself to try to give the guests the best finale they could never imagine, despite my own anxiety. I smiled at every person I came across, and affirmed my coworkers who evidently slept much less than I had. The greater good was working around me and with me.
After the unforgettable final session on Saturday night, I watched the staff celebrate and cry and hold each other. They had pulled something off they had worked so tirelessly to put on, and it was some kind of wonderful to witness. I looked down at my dirty sandals and examined the red blisters on my feet, and was startled by someone.
“Hello, what’s your name?”
I told him my name and he affirmed, “Ray.” He grabbed my hands and looked at me directly, genuinely, and equally, “I see you Ray. I see you working back there. I want to let you know that you’re seen.”
It was one of those moments you could never foresee, never plan for… one of the best kind of moments. I wish I could go back and ask Gary Haugen, the President and CEO of International Justice Mission, how he knew how deeply I needed to hear that. How he knew to come up to me, take me not just by my hands but by my vulnerability, and see me. The beautiful empathetic Gary Haugen simply shares the Invisible Children core value that not one person on this earth is more or less important than another. He knows that the greatest woe of all human beings ever is to be loved, to be seen, to be connected with other human beings. He put aside all labels, CEO or intern, and he affirmed my role in this beautiful organization, even further he helped me on my path to affirming my role in changing the world. Suddenly all of my delirium, stress, the blisters taking over my feet, the uselessness I felt this weekend were outdone a million times over by the realization of why I experienced all this. The invisible children are our brothers and sisters regardless of where they live or who they are, and we are all their keepers, and they are ours. No act toward change is too small or insignificant despite how they may feel.
Just a couple of staff members
The call to act becomes visible to everyone in its own invisible way, and it needs to be sought out by the individual, aided by the lessons bestowed upon us by others who are further along the path. To all those who are struggling either in the midst of fundraising or perhaps the stages of dreaming up ways to do so, know that if you are scared, you are called upon. Affirm yourself as much as you need, and if ever you are too full of doubt to move forward, allow yourself to be consumed if only for a few moments, and then press on. A change does not need to consist of impressive labels. A change occurs when someone, anyone, steps up and sets their mind to see others and adapt to answering their needs.
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