community is all we have
Friendship as an inner fulcrum upon which all our actions can reliably hinge, a compass to offer us direction when we’re lost, and a shield to protect us.
Kate Johnson • Radical Friendship
“Trying to see your friend in a big city is just sending a list of dates months away back and forth forever, until one of you dies.”
Rachel Connolly • Here’s Why I Say No to Making Plans Six Weeks in Advance. More People Should Try It
“Community is what happens when you do what you love together.”
– Pete Davis
The myth of independence also shapes what literature looks like and what kind of writing is valued. We see a novel as better than a short story anthology. We rarely see collaborations in fiction or in poetry. Our literary praxis is that of the lone author typing away by themselves. Our poetics come from solitary brilliant minds. We still cling as a
... See moreAlice Wong • Disability Visibility
From A.H. Reaume's essay, "Why My Novel is Dedicated to my Disabled Friend Maddy"
My contribution to the advice canon for making friends follows a similar vein: Think of friendship as a tapestry. It starts with its first seams—a meeting at a party, an introduction, a spark at a concert. Sometimes you’re knitting it together, sometimes one person is working overtime, and sometimes you stop and look at what you’ve made and know
... See moreAaron Edwards • I Followed Common Advice for Making Friends. Then I Learned What It Really Takes.
“The intimacy that comes with time and attention allows us to be vulnerable with others. This intimacy, across a group, can become a durable network—like mycelia. We are strongest when we feel safe being soft.” To me, that network feels like security.
Cultivating Non-Romantic Intimacy
Restorative justice is focused on the importance of relationships. It is focused on the importance of repair when those relationships are broken, when violations occur in our relationships. It is very much interested in community, because it asks whose responsibility is it to actually meet the obligations and needs that are created through
... See more