Summary

A couple decides to move to another country, driven by a desire for safety and a hope to contribute positively to a new community, rather than out of bravery.

Abstract

The author and their spouse are preparing to relocate to a Caribbean island, a decision prompted by increasing crime and violence in their current middle-class neighborhood. Despite being labeled as brave by others, they consider their move to be an act of desperation and self-preservation rather than bravery. The couple had attempted to effect change in their community but felt their efforts were ineffective against the escalating violence. The move represents not just an escape from a negative situation but also an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in a community that values literacy and alternative health, aligning with the author's interests as a writer and someone interested in alternative health practices. The couple sees their relocation as a practical choice for a better quality of life and the chance to contribute positively to their new environment.

Opinions

The author feels that true bravery would involve staying to effect societal change, but their attempts felt inadequate.
The decision to move was influenced by the husband's foresight of worsening conditions and the author's challenge to find a place where they could make a difference.
The couple's move is driven by a need for safety and a desire to live a life of meaning, rather than a sense of adventure or bravery.
The author believes that staying in their current environment would lead to a diminished life and potentially becoming a cautionary tale.
Relocating is seen as a way to avoid external conflicts by addressing internal challenges, suggesting a proactive approach to improving their circumstances.
The author acknowledges that their move could be perceived as brave, but they primarily view it as a necessary step for their well-being and spiritual growth.

Bravery From the Inside Looks a Lot Like Desperation

Freewriting Friday prompt: Brave

“Oh, you’re so brave.”

“That takes more bravery than I have.”

“I could never do that. You’re so brave.”

These are the types of comments I hear over and over when my husband and I tell people that we’re moving to another country. The funny thing is, we don’t feel the least bit brave. We feel scared and desperate.

Facing fear and violence

The very nice middle-class neighborhood we moved to thirteen years ago has become riddled with crime and violence. The latest shootout took place two blocks from our house, leaving one dead and at least one injured.

One shooting is a tragedy. Two is a tragic coincidence. Three is an alarming trend.

When you lose track of how many stores, schools, and movie theaters get shot up; when your first question after reports of a shooting is not “why would someone do that?” or “how could this happen?” but simply to know the casualties; when a shooting isn’t included on the news if people were sent to the hospital in critical condition, but no one died… something needs to change.

A truly brave person would stand up for that change. They would try to change the culture and the society for the better.

We did try. But not hard enough, or effectively enough. Our reach was not wide enough. We de-escalated some small conflicts, but the greater conflicts continued escalating around us.

Would staying in the face of failure be bravery or stupidity?

Running From or Running To?

My husband kept saying, over and over again, “We have to get out.” He foresaw the situation getting significantly worse as the divisiveness grew and the economy crumbled.

I held back. I didn’t want to run away. I didn’t want to give up on making the world a better place. I didn’t want to lose the chance of giving my life meaning. Saving myself at the expense of everyone else would be to lose the very essence of myself. I couldn’t do that.

So, I put the challenge on him. Find us something to run to. Find us a place where we can make a difference. Someplace with a strong community and a history of peaceful coexistence rather than conflict.

He did. He found an island in the Caribbean that is relationship and community-oriented. It has an extremely high literacy rate, but it needs support to provide books to young readers. As an author, that is a cause I can totally get behind.

It also has an active group of alternative health practitioners, which is an area I am seeking to expand into. My MBA husband is helping a doctor there write a business plan for his integrative health clinics. (They’re a mix of alternative therapies and doc-in-a-box urgent care since people there currently go to the ER for everything.) He is also offering suggestions for which transformative technologies would fit well with the island’s culture.

Hopeful or hopeless

Our choices basically came down to this: stay where we were, mired in hopelessness, and watch things crumble around our ears while we were increasingly endangered. Or move, where we could do good for many people, and have hope that our actions would directly or indirectly help to raise the experience of everyone on the island for the better.

When you look at it like that, moving to another country doesn’t seem brave at all. It seems like the sensible thing for our health, well-being, and spiritual evolvement.

I don’t like being scared all the time. I don’t think anyone does. It’s not brave to find a different environment. It’s desperation and self-preservation.

Conclusion

People say we’re brave to uproot ourselves and move to another country. Maybe it would require bravery for them to uproot themselves and relocate. But for us, it feels more like self-preservation.

Moving is the best chance we have of living positive lives of meaning and improving the world. We have to do it.

Then again, there are plenty of people who refuse to take positive action. They stay in a situation where they are scared, unsafe, and diminished day by day. Eventually, the world wins, and they become a cautionary tale or a tragic footnote.

We’re not giving up and we’re not giving in. We want to contribute to the world, to improve things for ourselves and those around us, and to thrive in peace. We’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

We’re willing to fight the internal battles so that we don’t have to fight the external ones.

I guess, maybe we are brave after all.

For another take on bravery and tiger energy, check out:

Freewriting Friday — Roar Like A Tiger

Brave. Competitive. Unpredictable.

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