Photo: Stacy Lanyon
What drew me was knowing that so many people were inspired
to come together and really try to recreate our world in a conscious, collective,
just, inspired way. It
felt like, “Where the hell else would you want to be?” At the end of September,
I would run in very gingerly to drop off bagels or sleeping bags. I was out of
the country for October, so I missed so much of its birth and evolution. I came out the day of the eviction and N17. It took me a minute to
find my place there. I was pretty convinced that I did not want to be under the
arts umbrella. I was pretty sure that I wanted to do something that was way
more direct service oriented, so I plugged in with kitchen on some large days
and large actions. Then, there was a meeting in early January. I showed up at a meeting and started
intersecting with folks from the puppet group. I spoke with someone who described it as wanting to connect both art making and the idea of service. He took the words out of my mouth, and when I showed up at the meetings, I
found the most inviting, creative, smart, active group of
folks who just felt like kin. It was a group of people who were so busy trying to show what we were for as opposed to what
we were against. This group was physically, literally trying to envision
and create images of that and express that. I couldn’t not keep
showing up.
It’s important for so many reasons. The
idea of engagement in the world is essential. The idea of being able to build
bridges, draw folks together to recreate our world in a model that aims to
address the needs of all of us is so important. That act of creating a world that makes space for us all, where we genuinely act on behalf of each other and
in the spirit of mutual aid, and where we raise awareness through very
constructive means feels essential to me. That is why social engagement is
essential. It’s our responsibility, and to be able to do it in ways that are
constructive and that use the best parts of ourselves and acknowledges our interdependence is
really essential. I think that that’s how we start changing imbalance. It’s no
mystery that we live in a world where a lot of efforts have been made to disempower
many of us, for the self-centered ends of others. Here we have an opportunity to change that. With what is being reborn now, we have this opportunity to
jump on this collective desire to rebalance the scales, the power
equations and the resources, and reevaluate how we do what we do and what
serves our greater good instead of what serves merely a narrow,
narrow range of interests.
I hope it will bring about a world that’s genuinely
sustainable, one that is genuinely honoring this planet and each other, one that
respects the natural world that our survival is dependent on. I'd like to see a world that respects
the interdependence of all of us, one that respects and aims to not interfere
with self-determination, one that follows
the idea that if the least among us is hurting and without, then we are all
hurt. If any among us are hurting or without, then we’re all affected. I want to live in a world that understands that there is no me without us, that we’re
all part of something much, much bigger than narrow self-interests, than our narrow world view. It’s not about I. It’s about us. You ask what we are capable of then, in that changed world? Oh my god. That’s really crazy. Probably, then the
world is freed for more acts of beauty and more acts of creation instead of
mere survival, more acts that let everyone on this planet reach their potential
and fulfill who they are as opposed to being at survival level.
Interview by Stacy Lanyon
http://buildingcompassionthroughaction.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/stacylanyon
https://instagram.com/stacylanyon/
https://twitter.com/StacyLanyon
http://stacylanyon.com/
Interview by Stacy Lanyon
http://buildingcompassionthroughaction.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/stacylanyon
https://instagram.com/stacylanyon/
https://twitter.com/StacyLanyon
http://stacylanyon.com/