Reasons to hide
The pandemic caused a lot of damage to human community. It caused us to distrust, shun, and hide our faces from each other. What we really distrusted was a virus, but the virus got confused with people. We became more fearful.
The devolution of democracy causes some folks to shun politics.
Now the climate chaos is upon us-we know the climate emergency can enter our own homes at any time, and that causes us to think about survival.
Threat can make us close off, lay low, be careful. Threat can keep us from doing the lovely things that have been part and parcel of a good life, like having parties, joining softball leagues, volunteering. Going to book readings, attending book club meetings. Dressing up and going out to cultural events.
Threat, of course, is not the only reason humans are more isolated than ever. There's technology always jitterbugging around to steal our attention away from community.
Given the pandemic, politics, climate chaos, and the weirdness of digital life it's easy to want to stay small.
I ask you
I am going to ask a huge favor. In any way that you have begun to close off, give up, not care, lay low, and isolate yourself - I ask you to rethink this. This is not the time to stay small. This is the time to get big.
By Janisse Ray in Craft and Current: A Manual for Magical Writing pg. 265
Invitation: “This is the time to get big.”
More about Janisse on Wikipdia (link)
We will meet for the Community Table Monday, April 7th at 8:00 PM ET. Contact us for information HERE.
We will continue our daily Shared Solitude: Embracing the gift of silence in community offered by our Courageous friend Emily - Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6:30 am ET and Tuesday, Thursday at 3:00 pm ET through April 18th. See details on our Calendar HERE
Learn More About Circles of Courageous Commons HERE
I certainly hear this request, this invitation, yes, this call from Janisse Ray -- "I am going to ask a huge favor. In any way that you have begun to close off, give up, not care, lay low, and isolate yourself -- I ask you to rethink this. This is not the time to stay small. This is the time to get big."