Thank you all (belatedly) for your comments. I wish more people in today’s world understood the value of community. Julie, I particularly love your comment, “Times of crisis remind us what we’re capable of, together.”
A lot of good honest truth here. We need to reach out for our Human Commons. Which includes place. And the language, yearnings, hopes gears that are common. Including the little ones, like a child's fever, or what's the best way to place a ladder? Details of course are the magic of fiction, the bridge for our emotions to meet character and reader. This philosophy would do well to leak into more everyday commons, as well as non-fiction.
Really enjoyed reading this essay. I could totally picture the island and the neighbors coming together. Community is precious and it takes hard work to thrive. Much like any long-term relationship, we learn about our own biases and weaknesses as reflected in others through conflict. Resolution requires engagement with humility and curiosity. And, as you say, empathy. We are meant to live in community; we forget that at our peril. Times of crisis remind us what we’re capable of, together.
Have you read Ann Pancake’s “Strange As the Weather Has Been”? It’s a moving story of land and communities in West Virginia destroyed by mountaintop removal. The unit of community at the heart of it is a family. It’s a devastating illustration of solastalgia — that particular kind of nostalgia for a beloved place that disappears right before our eyes. Something many of us will be confronting more as climate change advances.
Also yes to the first part of your reply, and thanks for reminding me of the book. The name of the other author, I just remembered, is Erik... (Hopefully his last name will resurface)
That won the Orion Award for writing on nature and culture. And the cover art is astonishing. I haven't read it but also would love to read the non-fiction book of the same topic, by the lovely guy who used to be sub editor? Reader relations? - can't remember, but also at Orion Magazine.
Thank you all (belatedly) for your comments. I wish more people in today’s world understood the value of community. Julie, I particularly love your comment, “Times of crisis remind us what we’re capable of, together.”
Yes! Thanks. Now I can search for a copy again. Thanks Julie.
A lot of good honest truth here. We need to reach out for our Human Commons. Which includes place. And the language, yearnings, hopes gears that are common. Including the little ones, like a child's fever, or what's the best way to place a ladder? Details of course are the magic of fiction, the bridge for our emotions to meet character and reader. This philosophy would do well to leak into more everyday commons, as well as non-fiction.
Really enjoyed reading this essay. I could totally picture the island and the neighbors coming together. Community is precious and it takes hard work to thrive. Much like any long-term relationship, we learn about our own biases and weaknesses as reflected in others through conflict. Resolution requires engagement with humility and curiosity. And, as you say, empathy. We are meant to live in community; we forget that at our peril. Times of crisis remind us what we’re capable of, together.
Have you read Ann Pancake’s “Strange As the Weather Has Been”? It’s a moving story of land and communities in West Virginia destroyed by mountaintop removal. The unit of community at the heart of it is a family. It’s a devastating illustration of solastalgia — that particular kind of nostalgia for a beloved place that disappears right before our eyes. Something many of us will be confronting more as climate change advances.
Also yes to the first part of your reply, and thanks for reminding me of the book. The name of the other author, I just remembered, is Erik... (Hopefully his last name will resurface)
That won the Orion Award for writing on nature and culture. And the cover art is astonishing. I haven't read it but also would love to read the non-fiction book of the same topic, by the lovely guy who used to be sub editor? Reader relations? - can't remember, but also at Orion Magazine.
Is it Erik Reece?