There’s this fake lie that believes the only proper place for one’s time and energy is for local causes. This isn’t true.

Years ago when I created my site (this one) I purposefully made the name of the site out of a Virginia Woolf quote, it goes like this: “As a woman I have no country, as a woman my country is the whole world”. I felt like as I grew up from a woman in my early 30s (my age when I created the blog) to a woman more mature, the confessional aspect of my life on the blog would reflect the common woman’s journey, the thread that runs through all women, which is what her quote is about. It’s about how as a woman there are no boundaries anywhere on the globe that changes the fundamentals of being female.

The bubble aspect of life, fueled by social media and its “tribes”, has only fed the fire of ignorance as people dig into their belief patterns which are constantly being reinforced by this set up. Tolerance and allowing space for others to hold a different opinion or different anything has eroded. This is why there has been so many editorials about civility, and conversation about how civility itself has turned into a dirty word.

This is why I travel, and read a lot. For myself, I don’t want to live in a small tribe, surrounded by everyone just like me so I can feel safe and reinforced in my habits and behaviors. I want to be stretched, thought to think differently, live differently and meet people nothing like myself. This is so I can learn something new, understand more. But I don’t just want to take. I want to give to causes far removed from my home base city. This is not a savior complex, it’s egotistical to believe you can “change the world” (not to mention very infringing and therefore disrespectful).

It’s actually about comprehension: understanding the connectedness of all people, no matter where on the planet you go, the shared humanity and same hopes and dreams, and life crippling disappointments, loss and setbacks we all experience. Giving time and money to causes away from your local community isn’t a subtraction from where you typically reside. It’s a way to bring something of that community to the rest of the world that you represent. And a way to bring some of the rest of the world home with you.