Letter from the editor: Find your people

By Courtney Warren

Thank you cards are a pain. Texting is literally so easy, and you can fire one off without a thought…and yet, I can almost feel my grandmother’s glare. If you listen closely…one might even be able to hear her disappointed sigh. 

As my hand cramps this week, I am reminded how amazing it is to have people. There is a song called “You gotta find your people,” and it’s one that I’ve really enjoyed - and one I’ve thought of a lot recently. 

September was a full month for me when it comes to emotions. There was excitement, heartbreak, travel and celebrations. I turned 35 this month – an exciting milestone that I had the joy of celebrating with my family at the Mississippi Book Festival. 

My day started with my nieces singing happy birthday to me (loudly and slightly off key) before I was given VIP passes to the festival by a wonderful friend. I was so blessed to be surrounded by fellow readers and writers – my people. 

Then, I had the honor of traveling to our nation’s capital to be celebrated, along with eleven other incredible educators, as one of the Herzog Foundation’s National Christian Teachers of the Year. This was easily a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The travel was exhausting – we had to arrive at the airport at 4 a.m., and yet my people did so without complaint. They showed up for me. 

During the banquet, as I looked around my table, I had to take a second and talk to God: “Lord, thank you for my people. Thank you for blessing me with people who see me.” 

I was seen. I was loved. I was supported and told over and over that I mattered and that I’d made them proud. And sometimes, that’s really all we need, isn’t it? For someone to see us, the good and the bad, and love us anyway. For someone to see us and, no matter what mistake, no matter what victory, they never walk away. They are committed to walking through life with us. 

Our people. 

The lyrics to the song that I love most include, “You got to find your people, The ones that make you feel whole, That won’t leave your side when you lose control, The ones that don’t let you lose your soul.” It’s one thing to say you love someone. It’s another to show up for them. To see them. To be their people. 

It’s so easy to lose ourselves in the labels that people place on us – why is it that the labels that always seem to stick the hardest come from the people who have no business placing them in the first place? Do they truly know our hearts? Are those people the ones that we want beside us when we have our failures? Are they our anchors? Our safety nets? Our lighthouses? Why is it that the people who are the first ones to turn the lights off are the ones whose opinions we hear? 

We can’t listen to them. 

They aren’t our people. 

Our people show up. Our people pick up the phone. Our people will take the 4 a.m. flight. Our people will write the thank you card. Our people will stand beside us and have the tough conversations and stand for us in the crowd. Our people are worth more than a text message.
We’ve got to find our people. Because through our people, we find ourselves.