I have just finished my MFA in writing (with a 100% on my thesis, accepted as is. Go me!). I need something else to occupy me, and, as I figure that out, I’m taking a class on grief and writing with Chelsey Clammer on line at WOW (Women on Writing, i think) and Coleman (last name?) which is supposed to be experimental writing but seems to be poetry, or perhaps taking one form and moving it all around. It looks as if we will be using the same piece all the way through. I didn’t get the first email (glitch) so I picked a piece on the run. We’ll see how that works. The last on-line class I took was also supposed to be experiemental but was absolutely on lyric essays. I have to wonder how “experimental” is defined these days with reference to writing!
Sitting at breakfast this morning (out, my favorite spot), I was journalling on what’s next and somehow got on the difference between “tribe” and “community.”
I’ve been looking for my tribe forever. As recently as this past week, I decided that what I want is community. So I looked the words up to see if there’s any difference. And yes, there is. And yes, community is what I’m looking for and willing to put some time into creating. In-person community since my on-line community is strong.
Tribe: tribes are tightly structured around a charismatic leader and may have social hierarchy; homogenous, exclusionary (and I agree and have been very interested in one tribe and watching how it is exclusionary while claiming inclusiveness).
Community: organized by common interests; heterogenous; inclusive.
And then I looked up cults which seems to be something like: tries to sever connections with other important relationships (even to the person’s own detriment); absolute authority with no accountability; no questionsing or critical inquiry allowed; no financial disclosure.
And that led to wondering if there were any MA level on-line courses in Cults, which apparently would go under the headings of psychology or sociology.
What’s next may well be sociology and I’m doing the research on that now.
Interesting how all that came down to a breakfast journalling session as, for the past year and a half since I lost my husband, I’ve been doing “what do I want,” what do I really want” journalling to no avail. I guess things happen in their own time.
In addition to school (to which I am addicted), I have an idea of community creating where I live. We’ll see how that works. I’ve learned it is never as easy as it seems it should be.
What are you doing with you one wild life?
Wylde Women’s Wisdom: “What can you do when you’re already doing everything?
“The problem with ‘everything’ is that it ends up looking an awful lot like nothing: just one long haze of frantic activity…a blur, and one that’s strangely devoid of meaning, except for a clawing sense of survival…I’m trying to find my way back to something that I recognize…
“I start to retell my own story again, if only to myself. That’s what humans do: we make and remake our stories abandoning the ones that no longer fit and trying on new ones for size.” Katherine May (Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times”
1 Comment
Always, eloquence. I love that you’re doing the blog. I’ve never enjoyed tribes. I find them confining. I prefer a community where people can develop their abilities and feel good. Everyone succeeds that way.