Prompt: Write about a small choice that mattered.
The prompt for today is: Write about a small choice that mattered.
In our neighbourhood, a lot of people have cats. Not very many people have dogs.
The other day, I was sitting outside early in the morning after having gone for a walk with Emi when one of the neighbours brought her dog over to our area. We have a cluster of row houses, and she let her dog relieve itself on one of my neighbour’s lawns.
So I said something.
I said, “Our kids play here. Could you not? Could you take your dog to the public green space or the dog park instead?”
She said she could, but the rest of her answer made it clear that she wasn’t willing to.
Even so, I think it was important that I said something because there are lots of kids in our area, and they all play on those lawns, especially now that the weather is nice.
In most moments of my life, I probably wouldn’t have said anything.
Part of it is because I would have assumed it wouldn’t make any difference. The other part is that, in the past, when I’ve spoken up and someone has responded in a way I didn’t like, I’ve become quite angry. Really angry.
So it often felt easier just to stay quiet.
Learning how to speak up in a tactful and respectful way—to raise my voice, not in terms of volume but in terms of using it—is something I need to practise. It’s a skill, or maybe even a habit, that I haven’t developed very well.
This time, though, I feel like I handled it well.
When I think about how I want Emi to move through the world, I never want her to be afraid to take up space, to exist fully, or to stand up for what is hers. I also want her to defend other people when they’re being treated unfairly.
I think we have a responsibility to the people we live among. And, in many ways, now that the world is so interconnected, we also have a responsibility to people we’ll never meet. Our actions ripple outward, for better or for worse.
So I think it’s important that we learn how to tactfully raise our voices.
That’s something I want to keep practising.
Hopefully, I can set a good example for Emi.
As it turned out, Hannah later saw that same woman walking her dog. This time, she crossed to the other side of the street and let the dog do its business there instead.
Maybe saying something did matter after all.
This transcript was lightly cleaned up with the help of AI to improve readability while preserving the original voice and intent of the recording.
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