This April I launched the book, The Diversity in Humanity, a multi-author collaboration that made Amazon bestseller in 8 different categories! The publisher, Kayleigh O’Keefe from Soul Excellence Publishing, invited us to write about diversity from our very soul, through the lens of our personal experiences. I am certain that it’s because we all wrote with the vulnerable strokes from our own individual journeys that the book had such an impact. We all concluded that the paradox is that we truly find our human oneness through our unique differences.
Kayleigh asked us to share with our readers what our inner child would share about themselves and how that child would feel about where we are today. Here goes!
Did you know I was born in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and that I spoke English, Spanish, Lao, and Chinese fluently before the age of 5?
Did you know my Colombian mother and my American-Italian father are spiritual luminaries and justice seekers?
Did you know that my formative years and my Colorfulness are from the years I spent in Honduras, Panama, and Colombia?
Did you know that I went to a Quaker high school? Did you know I lived in a refugee camp on the Honduran-Nicaraguan border in 1985?
Did you know that my son is biracial and bilingual, born and raised in Washington, D.C.?
Did you know that I am a fierce salsa, merengue, and bachata dancer?
Did you know I’m a martial arts film buff?
THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE THINGS THAT MAKE ME UNIQUELY ME.
Did you know I have had times of intense, desperate loneliness and a history of PTSD?
Did you know I have chased after unrequited love to fake-fill myself?
Did you know that I have solved for my own pain points through 12-step groups, meditation, spirituality, and psychotherapy?
Did you know that most of the time I am shooting for better not best? Did you know that these days I am choosing the favorite version of myself more than the highest version of myself?
Did you know that I am protective like a momma lion and tender like a kiss on the forehead?
Did you know that I have loved — deeply, profoundly, passionately — my parents, my family, my lovers, my culture(s), my baby, my fur creatures, my clients, my experiences, my God, my angels, my ancestry, and my humanity?
THESE ARE SOME THINGS THAT MAKE ME UNIQUELY HUMAN…like you…like us.
DID YOU KNOW THAT ALL OF THE ABOVE LED ME HERE, to find the places I am unique and to share in the places THAT WE ARE THE SAME.
Little Maria Claudia, who read to her dolls, wrote down her thoughts, and cried when she CARED, would be proud that I am the HUMANITY LOVER THAT I AM.
The Diversity in Humanity: A New Vision for Creating Harmony in the Workplace
