Equity - The Foundational Value

"Once you know better, do better" 

 

The Backstory

Equity has been a foundational part of my life for as long as I can remember. I just wasn’t aware it was there.

For years, it quietly shaped how I built relationships, how I showed up for the people around me, and how I tried to create spaces where people felt able to be themselves. It guided me before I even had a word for it.

It’s only in the last few years that I’ve started to really see how deeply it runs through my life, and how much it connects almost everything I care about.

I’d been having quite a lot of health issues, and had really lost my creative spark. I took some time to try to re-evaluate what I was spending my time on, and whether it was bringing me joy or bringing me down. I realised I’d completely burnt myself out trying to be everything to everyone, and I was honestly worried I’d done some permanent damage to myself in the process.

As I began paying closer attention to moments where things just felt off, I started noticing patterns.

I’d always been aware that I valued fairness and honesty. I did a values exercise* and discovered the underlying value I’d held on tightest to in my life was equity. I then spent some time processing the difference between equity and equality, as I knew they were separate, but didn’t really understand the difference yet.
There were experiences I’d lived through that had made me uncomfortable, challenged me, stretched me, or pushed me to move through obstacles I hadn’t expected. Once I got curious about what the connection was between those experiences, I began to recognise the same roots and patterns of inequity showing up in places far outside my own story.

Different situations. Different details. But the same familiar imbalance underneath.

And once you start seeing those similarities and imbalances, it becomes almost impossible not to care and want to somehow make things better - not just for yourself, but for everyone.

“Do the best you can until you know better.
Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

 

Perspective Recognition Happening in Real Time

This is my way of trying to do better with what I now know.

It started out as one piece I was writing, partly to challenge myself to do more creative writing again. I’d intended to simply explain how equity shows up as a value in my life. But it kept growing. The more I wrote, the more threads appeared, and eventually I realised it wasn’t a single article at all. It was an ongoing work in progress. (like myself!)

So I stopped trying to contain it, and instead let it become a collection of perspectives and reflections.

I’ve no intention to lecture anyone. And I’m not here to convince, argue, or defend a position. I’m simply here to notice, and offer what might be a different perspective.

I want to explore what equity looks like if we zoom out from the little corner we personally inhabit, look around for those patterns I’m pretty good at spotting, and then we can zoom all the way in. I’m trying to trace those connecting threads between our personal experiences and the bigger picture. And the systems that shape our lives, depending on where we live, where we happened to be born, and who we are surrounded by. To highlight the places where our stories overlap in ways we might not expect.

And to hopefully do that in a way that’s grounded in curiosity, not confrontation.

 

An Opportunity to Be Curious, Not Furious

If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to understand an issue that doesn’t affect your life directly…
Or you’ve wanted to respond with more empathy, more perspective, or just more clarity…
If you’ve ever wished for a way to stay open‑minded - even when you don’t agree…

My hope is that these pieces help you find these things for yourself.

I want to share the similarities I’ve learned to recognise - not to change your mind, but to open a door. To help you look for ways to make space for different perspectives. Ask questions instead of reacting in anger in the moment. And choose curiosity and compassion, even when it feels uncomfortable.

This is just one part of a longer conversation about equity, humanity, and the ways our stories might connect.

I’m really glad you’re here.

(A version of this piece was originally published on my business website, but it’s been reworked here to focus less on work and more on lived experience.)

*Values exercise – you can do this for yourself if you’d like - https://www.think2perform.com/values/

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Quietly overthinking, deeply curious.
A closer look often reveals the bridges we already share.