Since at least December, I’ve felt a
clutching in my gut. Not pain, not obstruction, not bloating; just…awareness of
distress that doesn’t seem to go away.
I thought it might be grief
for my sister manifesting itself, or
perhaps my anxiety that started on Election Day and has ratcheted up every day
since. My doctor ran me through some tests, none of which indicates anything
(visibly) organic, so I’ve just lived with it.
But last week I saw somewhere (either
Reddit or Bluesky) an announcement for a two-hour class on how to “Build a
Community”, put on by an organization called The Barnraisers Project. I’m
not the community organizer type, but I thought that learning more about
community and how to build one would be better than not learning, so I signed
up.
Friends—I’ve never felt two hours go by so
fast. (This was only beaten by the 90
minutes I spent in a black cab
touring Belfast six years ago.) I—like everyone reading this—have been to
enough well-intentioned meetings, run by well-intentioned people, which drift
all over the place and devolve into individual rants or hand-flapping to have
had some trepidations about this. But Garrett Bucks not only knows his
community onions, he knows how to run a meeting—make everyone feel welcome and
valued, but keeping them on target.
Also—I cannot tell you how heartening it
was to be on a Zoom call with 91 other people from all over the country (and
beyond), who mourn what this nation has become, and are actively seeking ways
to unite and turn it back towards decency. For the first time in months, I am
cautiously optimistic.
And I am grateful.
(Plus—my intestinal tract appears to have relaxed some.)
©2025 Bas Bleu
