I was a little disturbed to
read on the front page of the papers this week ‘May says US and UK can lead the world again.’ Whilst I’m not entirely
sure of her motives behind saying this, it smacks of bravado and making the
best of a bad situation. I’m not prepared to make any further criticism; she is
in a tough position and I would never want to swap places. With our political
and economic situation looking so uncertain it is easy to focus on the
bleakness of our nation and despair.
I have never studied Aristotle
as a politician, only as an ethicist and empiricist, but I can see he took a
holistic view of all that he observed and considered. For him, politics was not
about status or power but about achieving eudaimonia. This was the purpose of
politics as far as he was concerned, it is ‘the business of the lawgiver to
create the good society.’ (The Politics)
My feelings of bleakness and
despair initially took a further dive following a number of articles about the
problem of homelessness in the UK.
Then I came across this:
I love it. Someone thought
creatively, had an idea and acted on it. Then because of the thoughts and
actions of one person, others joined in. If I look at the nation, at things
globally, I feel helpless. I question my role, as whatever I can do seems
invisible and insignificant. Sometimes the big picture clouds a thousand
smaller images that could bring change. I was inspired by another of
Aristotle’s thoughts: ‘A state is partnership of families and clans living well
and its object is the full and independent life.’ (The Politics) I wonder what
it would look like if we were given the chance to partner with our
government, with one another to create a good society. Regardless of the
actions of the government we still have the choice to partner with one another.
The impersonal hand of
government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbour.
(Hubert Humphrey)
Since moving four years ago,
it has been our desire to involve ourselves in the local community. With both
of us having full-time jobs elsewhere, this was practically very difficult. We
tried a ‘house warming’ with neighbours in our street; very few came but those
that did appreciated the effort. Other ideas have also been unsuccessful, part
of the reason maybe that many people stay here their whole lives and often
their children do too. There is a village mentality, which means that time will
really make a difference.
Earlier this month I started
a new project. Having written about the importance of time for oneself and the
benefits of ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’, I decided to facilitate time and
activities that would enable people in our locality the opportunity to do so.
I’ve set up a weekly time for people to enjoy free coffee & cake, take part
in an art activity and enjoy some quiet time through sensory meditation. At our
last gathering we nearly hit double figures, but numbers are not really
important. It was so special to hear people saying that they had connected with
people they would never normally have time to chat with. I loved seeing people
rediscover that child-like joy through creating art with sweets, shaving foam,
water and food colouring!
Each of us has a gift, a
skill; if these remain unused, our communities are a little darker and colder.
It is hard sometimes admitting we have need of one another, but it is a
reciprocal relationship; as we give, so we receive.
We can begin by doing
small things at the local level, like planting community gardens or looking out
for our neighbours. That is how change takes place in living systems, not from
above but from within, from many local actions occurring simultaneously.
(Grace Lee Boggs)
You
and I may just be drops in a vast ocean, but we can cause a ripple effect and
who knows where it can end?
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