home, community, & belonging

It’s hard to think about anything other than Saturday’s salon, but I need to take a moment to write about last night’s Magic & Memory class. We had fourteen participants and I didn’t spot any lefties (I always scan for my classroom for left-handed writers) but we had a fantastic conversation about home, community, and belonging. It’s so different teaching adults! I’ve missed it. And we have two hours to talk, so nothing feels rushed. Hopefully I’ll be able to strike the right balance—my goal is to share Weeksville history and then let those facts guide our creative writing. We’d just started talking about forgiveness when class wrapped up last night. What binds people together in a community? Things they have in common, including oppression. But what makes a community thrive? I’m hoping we’ll be able to talk about love next week. How do you hold onto your humanity in this country? I put my favorite Audre Lorde quote up on the board: “We were never meant to survive. Not as human beings.” Buying land, building a home, and forging a community—those are the actions of people determined to assert their humanity and their right to root themselves in the US. But can you ever truly belong in a place where you’re not wanted?

This is an activity we completed last night. Use five words or less to finish this phrase: Home is…