I'm more than aware that I haven't updated this blog in almost a year. I would apologize for my lack of updating, but I sincerely doubt that there are very many people that keep up with this. Instead of apologizing, I'm going to explain.
I began this project in order to inspire to try out some new places in the city I call home. The city I love so much. I began this project with the motto of "if I can inspire only one person, my job is complete". I believed that this project had truly taken shape when about a year ago, a couple at the nearby bakery asked me what I knew about Detroit as they were tourists here. I smiled, welcomed them, and gave them the name of this blog. I left thinking, this is the point of writing about this kind of stuff! Life however, is not concrete, it is a constant ebb and flow of discoveries and knowledge.
I started a Master's program in Education this summer, marking my second summer in the city. I worked with a GED preparation program for the youth of Detroit and I am now doing my student teaching at a major high school in the city. This experience has flipped my idea of Detroit Discovery upside down. I has humbled me in ways unimaginable. Who am I to be telling people what they should be doing in Detroit, especially lifelong residents? I continue to learn from the people of Detroit everyday, especially my students. They provide me with the real Detroit. Over the past 5 on and off years of my residence here, I have been chipping away at the city, slowly learning more. I can share what I have learned with people, but I will never be able to see it all and give pieces away like these lifetime residents can.
I'm learning that Detroit is more than a place, it's a state of mind. The bars, restaurants and events are great, but cannot compare to the people here. Running down the street in New York where people turn to avoid eye contact cannot be matched to the cries of "keep it up, girl!" you get in Detroit. The quiet "hellos" of other cities do not compare to the hand wave and "you alright?" that you get in Detroit (a phenomena I have only recently become cognizant of). As much as I would love to say that I know "soOoOoO much about Detroit", I don't. I'm learning more everyday, but frankly, I have been humbled to realize I will never learn everything. I can continue to share things I find awesome, but I need to change my mindset from Detroit tour guide, to documenting traveler. Maybe one day, I'll be about to consider myself a tour guide, but for now, like everyone who spent their childhood and adolescence in another place, I am discovering Detroit and the role I have here.
