Communitarians

After a recent cleanup at the Rozella Building in White Center, four of us were having coffee at Fresh Flours and Carolin, a member who had helped at the cleanup, used a word that sat me straight up in my chair. She said her husband uses the word “Communitarian” when describing his religion (???)

This phrase really spoke to how I feel when I’m engaged with this service work and particularly the cleanup community that we’ve been building this past year.

When I first started picking up over a decade ago it was definitely done with a poor attitude. There was a lot of storytelling happening inside my head about who was to blame and why did I have to pick this up? I often felt like I was carrying more of my own personal garbage home with me each week in the form of anger, self-righteousness and resentments than when I had started.

I shared my activities with a mentor thinking he’d give me a pat on the back and he listened to me patiently for several weeks before offering up two options. I could either see the trash and walk past it as I had apparently been able to do most of my life without any cares, or I could simply pick up the trash and throw it away without the storytelling and without resentment. Just practice the act and the mind will shift he said. It seemed like a radical idea at the time and one that I didn’t seem at all as realistic, but he was absolutely right. I still struggle at times with the focus on others rather than the thing right in front of me, but if I shift it back to wanting a cleaner community and finding others who are interested in walking this path I’m amazed at how differently I now feel heading home from a clean. It’s deeply satisfying to get out and take action in this place I love to call home. I find serenity in the process now and am allowing myself to discard the clutter in my head as well as the physical trash we find and it feels good.

All this is to say that I’m seeing this happening for other people too so I would like to invite anyone who is interested in participating to reach out and join our growing community. Feel free to enter your information below for upcoming events and news. Your information will only be used for our group activities.