we're all in it together.

a post from the eye of the storm -

hurricane irene may or may not end up being the meteorological anti-climax of the decade, at least in central brooklyn. however, i have one thing to say:

it made for one of the best days in recent memory.

i was meant to be co-facilitating a training all weekend, that nicole (my co-worker) and i had spent the past 8 months preparing. friday we were stressballs (ok, at least i was a stressball) trying to figure out the best course of action, the responsible thing to do. cancel the training because of severe weather warnings?! continue as-planned, with a Fearless Leader mentality that could've possibly become stupidly dangerous?! host some halfway version that had the potential to be watered down (no pun intended), half-assed, and useless?! these were my fears.

none of these fears were realized. far from it. a dwindled group of participants still gathered, for an abbreviated version of the formerly 2-day training. we re-located from the office to someone's living room (THANK YOU MARGOT & SARAH) and transparently re-shuffled the agenda to accommodate changing travel plans, a new configuration of people, and intermittent weather.com updates.

as a facilitator, my lofty hopes and dreams for the training were scaled way back. disappointing, though almost relieving in some ways. the goal we exclusively focused on was building relationships amongst the folks that were there. the simplest and most complex goal there ever is :)

we spent the day digging deep. we talked strategy & organizing. we talked vision & long-term goals for resource generation. we talked logistics & 3-week goals for local chapters. that was all great. we were stuck indoors on hurricane watch - what better use of our time than jumping headfirst into what we were all there for? everyone's energy was there without us even needing to ask.

so the work was great. but the best part (insert cheesy drum roll here) was meeting our #1 goal - getting close.

so often we forget that our own liberation as owning-class folks is key to the puzzle of social justice for all. we have to start by breaking our intense isolation, individualistic self-reliance, and (often) lack of close relationships and deep roots. this weekend, we did that. we committed to being in the same small (humid!) living room together for 24 hours (and potentially longer, weather-pending). we committed to getting to know each other as a 7-person group of people, some of whom had barely met before. after the day was done we went to one of the only open bars and collectively started a two-hour dance party, inspiring the rest of the bar to jump up and join us. we frolicked in the rain and ate bodega sandwiches.

and you know what? our longevity in our work together, as owning class folks organizing for social justice, depends on this. depends on dance party-ing and puddle-jumping together. it depends on us allowing ourselves to care enough about each other to not let go, or walk away, or dismiss the next-steps we set at the end of the training. the word "accountability" came up again and again over the course of the day - it can be such a dirty word, conjuring enforcement and un-fun to-do lists. but when we actually learn to care about and love one another, to commit to our work together not just because we think we should but because we are doing it in community - then accountability just comes. and transformations happen.

xo