Comunidad

The word on everyone lips these days seems to be community.

If you were around for the 2016 election of President Donald Trump - I was living in Washington D.C. at the time - you might remember there was an anger in the air. A rage that led people to march in the streets and make themselves heard. One could say his supporters did the same thing on January 6, albeit a bit less peaceful.

This time around, we’re all a little bit older and some, a bit worn down.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the rage is still there. The shock is still there. But eight years later, I’m seeing that rage and anger won’t be in service of those we love. Arguing with those who disagree doesn’t seem to ever get the intended effect, for me at least.

This time around, I personally am being called to lead with love.

It could be that years of self-help books (Big Magic, The Creative Act, The Four Agreements) have finally pushed me to see that the energy I put out in the world, is what I will receive. My meditation practice has taught me that the words I think and say out loud do matter, and if they are not in service of something good, they will cloud my mind and my being with negativity. If I lead a life with fear, I am blocking myself from dreaming of a better way.

These tools have pushed me to be someone who tries to be in better service of those I love. To be present in the now and support however I can. I’m still working on dreaming big and of a better way, but we’re tackling that moment to moment.

At a Friendsgiving when it came time to say what we were thankful for, I found myself realizing how lucky I was to be seated at a full table with too much food and to have a wonderful community of friends. Moments that I’ll look back in old age with such gratitude.

And yet.

This feeling of fellowship with others is something I want to expand. I want to dive deeper into the service I feel called to do. I want to push the boundaries of what I have thought so far of what community should look like. This is the place I find myself in. A place that feels like a direct call to find what community can really be all about.

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I grew up in an actively religious family. I went to Catholic school, church every Sunday at the school my siblings and I went to, and most Fridays’, we would spend the night hanging out with some nuns who would teach us the word of God. The consistency provided a structure for our faith, but also a place for friendships to blossom and a physical place to celebrate holidays, especially on December 12 to celebrate La Virgen de Guadalupe’s appearance to Juan Diego in the form of a live action play (a play in which both of my parents have participated as actors within). This felt like community.

Now, I feel more like a hobby collector. I rock climb (here and there). I hike (when I can). I rollerblade (mostly on my own). I joined a run club (that will end on Saturday). I volunteer (here and there). Does community always have to be attached to an activity?

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a city hike in Brooklyn put on by the organizations, Latino Outdoors NYC chapter and Camp Uwani, which means “soul” in Garifuna. It was a beautiful hike through the marshlands of Brooklyn where we saw many a flora and fauna and even had some expert birdwatchers volunteering to tell us what we were seeing along the way. Early on, I met Yeli, a Miami Latina. We became fast friends and yapped the whole way through.

She tells me that on her way to the hike, she was listening to the Brian Lehrer show and how this time around, the resistance will look different. How many really are feeling a call to get back to their communities and to be a neighbor that others can rely on. Supporting mutual aid. Getting involved in community organizing around an issue they feel a strong pull towards. Fatigue from marching. A call towards direct action.

As we continue walking, Yeli shares that ultimately what made her come to the event was the documentary, Join or Die.

My heart SOARED.

As a documentary producer, there is no greater feeling than hearing a documentary you watched pushed you to do something that the film intended!

I too stumbled upon this documentary on Netflix right before the election and felt inspired by it. Directed by Rebecca Davis and done in collaboration with her brother, Join or Die is based on Robert Putnam’s research in Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. The film does an excellent balance between explaining the research, based on years of data on American participation in clubs such as The Rotary Club, NAACP, or even just attending their local town hall meetings, and showing us what many are doing today. As the research is further presented throughout the film, it’s hard not to feel a direct correlation to the division we feel today:

In small, but meaningful ways, this research shows us how little we are spending time with others. Time that would allow us the chance to meet people with different backgrounds - social, cultural, and socioeconomic - to us. We are finding ourselves in our silos spending more and more time alone.

This is not an argument for bridging the gap and putting down your beliefs in order to achieve some form of unity. I see this more as an acknowledgment on the crumbling of shared American values and an inability to ever have a chance to get to know others who are different from you. Without a shared union that is fighting for the worker rights of those from different backgrounds or clubs that maybe all we have in common is running, we’re creating a society that sees the other as one to fear.

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The hike with Latino Outdoors NYC & Camp Uwani felt like a great example of that. Two incredible organizations trying to get people who are normally not ones to spend time in the outdoors, out there. I made a great friend who I may have never found myself spending time with had I not decided to join on that cold day.

I hope to do the same here at American Sueño. To inspire you to be a joiner and get to know people you wouldn’t have met if you hadn’t put yourself out there. To be okay with maybe only having one thing in common or supporting those who need your talents and knowledge through volunteering or creative expression so that you too can have a rich life filled with joy and love.

Our democracy depends on it.