Communal Spring
Spring flowers, SEAF, and my silly little thoughts
There is a big focus on big ‘C’ community. We’re told to build coalitions and engage. Often this is done through formalized meetings and planned events. It seems as though we must recreate the wheel and form new organizations when we can’t find a group that meets our exact niche. It’s overwhelming, hard, and easy to give up when we experience even the slightest friction. I’d argue, however, that the small ‘c’ community building we could be doing is much more important, and much easier to overlook.
I walk and bike and take transit almost everywhere, so I end up engaging with a lot of different people, all of the time, often not by choice. I work in a store that serves all community members and provides a product (food) that everyone needs to survive. I parent in public: at the park, at the library, on the sidewalk mid meltdown from a long day at school. People talk to me. Often, when I recount these conversations, others are mystified: “why do so many people talk to you” they ask.
And in truth, I ask myself this same question! Why do so many strangers talk to me? Why do people constantly ask me for directions? Or comment on what I’m wearing or eating, or carrying on my bike? Do I look like I know where I’m going? Do they think that I (on my bike) am some special parking guru who can tell them if it’s legal to park here or not? Is there a sign on my back that says “ask this person for tissues”???
On my way to work the other day a man came up behind me and said something. At first I didn’t hear him over my music, and honestly I was fine with that. But then he got closer, and he repeated his question: “do you know what kind of tree this is?” I told him that it was a tulip magnolia and he said he really liked it, so I pointed to a tree on the next block and said “yeah that’s one too and it’s still in the bloom phase with all the flowers”. He smiled and walked with me down the street, describing other plants and trees he liked to visit. I turned the corner and he followed, pointing at another tree and we paused. “Kwanzan Cherry. A type of Japanese cherry tree. I like it because it has the bigger blossoms than the other cherries.” We continued to stand and appreciate the tree. “Thanks,” he said “I’m going this way, to check out that other tulip one now, have a nice day.”
I continued my walk to work alone, awash in nice feelings. This man was very likely experiencing homelessness. On first approach I hadn’t wanted to engage in conversation with a random person. I was just listening to music on my way to work. And yet, that moment of connection, of taking time to observe the plants, it was truly life giving.
It’s in these small moments of little ‘c’ community that we get to know our neighbors. When, on my walk to work at 4 am, someone asks me if I know of any stores that are open. When I pull out my phone and help them remember the name of the place they got their nails done one time for their birthday. When they ask for advice on a bus transfer and my child pipes up and says “yeah that’s the number 8, you’re in the right spot”.
We spend so much time online now, professing the benefits of building community. There are even entire online communities where you can pay to be a member of an exclusive club of people you will never even meet. What do we lose when we fail to engage with the people we actually live with and instead only meet people in sanitized spaces with established hierarchy?
I hope people keep chatting with me about the trees and the flowers and the murals. I want to continue to engage with my neighbors. I hope you’ll engage with me too! Wave and say hi if you see me out in the wild!
Upcoming Events & Classes
For the third year in a row I’ll have work in SEAF! I have both fine art and store art available. The festival is so fun and inspiring, I really recommend checking it out! I’ll be there on Sunday to check out the show! The ticketed show runs April 30 - May 3rd at Seattle Center.
I’m also going to be teaching a few upcoming workshops at the studio. One of them, Healing Hand Building, is something I’ve been working towards for several years. We’re going to work together to create vessels and barrel fire them. It feels like a really personal offering, and one I really feel pressure to get right. I hope you’ll consider joining me as we explore combining writing and ceramics.
Studio Updates
I continue to chug a long slowly and steadily, sculpting, carving, and letting things dry. We’re coming up to the edge of the necessary drying time for firing work before the next woodfire. I always run into the issue with trying to push it to the limit, so I’m trying to remind myself that I can always save work for future firings instead of rushing it.
All the things I do when I’m not working
Eat ice cream, poke around weird thrift shops, dig through the back rooms of used bookstores, sit out on the balcony with my partner. I take so many fewer photos now that I deleted my instagram, but here are a few fun ones I’d love to share!
Hope you’re hugging your loved ones and enjoying the spring weather we’ve had over the past few weeks!