Here is Local 20/20’s regular column in the Port Townsend Leader, published 10/9/19.
What Can We Do?
By Judy Alexander
This is Part II of a Local 20/20 Resilience Review piece following one written by Marlow Hotchkiss, published in a July issue of the Leader. Marlow’s piece focused on the need for us each to “Do the right thing” given what we are up against on the planet at this unprecedented time. He did not, however, tell us what that WAS!
What Can We Do?
One place to start is to look to find the common ground that we share with people who are not like us.
We are living in extremely challenging times. There is a palpable sense of the growing tendency to “otherize”, to draw lines between “us” and “them”. People are afraid to mention politics at all, given the divisive nature of current rhetoric. Most find it easier to get mad than to show our felt vulnerability, caring, and empathy that actually lies right below the surface.
Could we relax the sense of stressful polarities and find what we share in common? Nurture where we connect? It is up to you and me, and, time being short, it is time to act.
What can we possibly do that will make a difference? How will we come together to repair the damage being done to our hearts and minds in the midst of living with such loss, everyday. We all know loss… Perhaps we’d be better off if we chose, and offered, intentional kindness, instead.
In her poem KINDNESS, Naomi Shihab Nye says:
Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things.
……..Before you know kindness
as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow
as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness
that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day
to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow, or a friend.
(See the full poem here.)
The tender parts of ourselves naturally connect us. It is our vulnerability that provides the bond, that builds the bridge. It is our broken hearts that illuminate our way. We need to provide each other the safety to risk sharing from that place. Listen more. Judge less.
From its beginning in 2006, L20/20 has sought with its various projects to bring people together for common cause. A network of neighborhood-based community gardens where people grow food with-and-for each other began in 2007. Neighborhoods were encouraged to organize for emergency preparedness, together. Partnerships with all manner of other groups, organizations, and government bodies, were forged, and continue to, to work together for the common good. The Action Groups work on difficult issues, such as climate change, reducing our waste stream, learning to speak to each other with non-violent communication skills, and much, much more. People find hope and solace in their efforts together. Tolerance and acceptance are learned, and practiced. Our activism is our salve.
Opportunities to find common ground abound. Mostly what it takes is intention. First, recognize that you do care. Turn away from hostility and listen to your heart. What is it asking of you? Perhaps it is whispering to you about doing the “right thing”. Please engage and join us! Your heart is needed.
Judith Alexander, MSW
One of the founders of Local 20/20, Judith is a clinical social worker with a home-based part time private counseling practice. Her work within Local 20/20 has been primarily focused on strengthening our local food system. Learn about all the Action Groups at www.L2020.org.
