It may be somewhere on the face of this blog, but I live in Foster City, CA. Where I live in Foster City happens to be a high population of Asians. When my sister and I first moved here we noticed we were always being stared at or in some cases even being ran away from. To say that is offensive is putting it rather mildly.
We work hard and deserve the opportunity to live where we choose and right now we happen to like living in Foster City. It is 10min away from our respective work places; close enough to the San Mateo Bridge in case we need to make that quick East Bay excursion. So at this time in our lives, it works.
The situation where we were "ran" from, we were pulling into the garage of our apartment complex and this Asian family (father, mother, daughter of about 3 years old and a toddler in a stroller) happened to be walking towards the door that leads to the lobby of our apartment complex from the garage. The minute they recognized we were "different' they begin literally running to the door to hurry and get in and close it before we could get out of the car to get to the door. At first I didn't think anything of it, because it was mostly the little girl that kept staring, until I saw her mother snatch her and push her through the door and then the father who was wheeling the stroller behind them almost pushed the baby into the door and then turned his head to look at us and slam the door closed.
Now I'm going to be very honest here. When Kim and I looked at each other in amazement at what we just witnessed, because it wasn't just me that saw it. Instantly we wanted to bring East Oakland to Foster City. We get out of the car, grabbing our groceries, cursing and damn near spitting at what we just experienced and begin bringing up previous experiences that we've had while living here, not truly understanding the "why" of it all.
I'll say it again, we both work hard and deserve to live wherever we choose. We pretty much keep to ourselves, no drama comes from our particular address, you understand? So why are we being treated this way? I could go into a list of other things we've experienced, but I'll keep to this one.
Now back to what I've been experiencing lately and changes I've been making in my life will hopefully tie this all together. I've been meditating more, being more aware of life as a whole and my fit into it. I've had some situations in my life that left me feeling broken and finally decided to find my own peace my own way. So in doing that and trying to radiate as much love as I possibly can from this soul of mine and trying to walk as the Divine would walk. I've decided - that is the issue.
What I have failed to see about myself and my people others have seen it long ago, we just haven't seen it or have been aware of it. We radiate something that does cause fear. The fear of the Unknown and many can recognize the Most High, but are fearful of it. My soul tells me this, my soul that I'm finally listening to.
So the other day while getting into the elevator with another one of my neighbors, you could see she felt uncomfortable being alone in an elevator with me. I had grocery bags in my hand just as she did, both of us looking as if we had a hard day at work and just wanted to get in the house and relax, but the difference was her discomfort and more importantly my outlook on her fear. She should fear the Most High, but be respectful of it. So as my stop came before hers, I simply turned to her as I got off of the elevator and told her to have a great evening and get some rest. Offered her my most radiant of smiles and walked to my door. This time I wasn't angry or offended. I accepted my gift and walking in it finally. Ashe.
