Moving Back

We've heard quite a bit lately about "Moving Forward." But forward to what?  Equality, for sure. Equal opportunities for all persons, no matter their race or socio-economic situation or, especially in this election and the coming years, gender. I believe we are moving forward towards respecting the value and rights of our natural environments, to which we are like tiny red blood cells in a vast body--if that body, our home, is sick, then we probably won't fare that well either. And perhaps we are moving forward in our relations with all peoples of the world. For quite a while, we Americans and our political leaders thought we had some natural right to dictate to smaller, weaker, and ideologically-different countries and groups. Fortunately, we have begun to realize that such hierarchical relationships, whether country-to-country or person-to-person, never engender trust, respect, and mutual concern. So, sure, we are moving forward, and we need to continue moving forward.

However, we need to qualify how it is that we move forward, because until we understand just how this rhetoric becomes embodied practice, it will remain simply fluffy speech and lofty ideals--the common banners of Facebook status updates, "favorite quotes," and character-limited tweets (as if we can really share and discuss ideas in 140 characters or less!).

I've been thinking about this because of my watching and listening to people's words and actions during this election. And what do I hear? What have I witnessed? A mass, general abandonment of personal agency and [local] community action. Go over your Facebook updates; review the editorials in your local newspaper; re-tweet all those tweets; peruse your web-history for the titles of news articles that you have read, and you'll quickly realize that the focus of most of these posts, and the people who authored them, are distant ideals pegged to distant people and distant campaigns, entities (and nothing more) with whom neither you, nor I, have had any serious, slow, meaningful conversation.

I believe that quite a few of us, too many of us, have forsaken our ability to act and to live according to these ideals, and, quite pathetically, we have replaced that capacity with only a [virtual] vocal one: repeating political mantras that are quite hollow, and do nothing to advance our shared, political stake.

I'll provide one quick example that I think many of you can identify with (especially if you reside in the South). One fine morning, after an exquisite [and wet!] float down the Buffalo River, my lady and a few friends and I went to Jasper for a good ole' dinner at a famous grease-joint. While waiting for our table, I stood outside on the wooden porch, soaking up the mystique of this small, enchanting town. An ol' country boy sat down beside me in a rocker, and we began to shoot the bull with each other. While I  proudly consider myself a liberally-educated human being who intellectually scorns idle chatter, I find that I can never quite forsake my Arkansan accent and knack for talking about completely meaningless stuff when surrounded by these folk. All was well and entertaining until my neighbor dropped a line that I cannot quite stop thinking about, despite it being well over 8 months ago: "You wanna' know why's I moved on up hur'? Don' tell my wife, cuz she don't like hearing it, but I wanned get away from all dem damn niggers." Oh boy. I prided myself on being a liberally-educated human being, right? Despite my partaking in idle chatter, surely I couldn't partake in racist hatred and ignorance, right? So now was my chance to lash out at this guy, to castigate his heart and soul, to judge him, verbally with my irate body, according to his very own morals, which I assumed to be Christianity (a safe bet in rural Arkansas)!

But I didn't. I simply whimpered a "Hmph" and said that I had to go inside, that my table was ready.

Had I moved forward intellectually and in my beliefs? I sure do think so. But what went wrong? Why didn't I speak up? Why did I not announce my ideals to this pitiable man with my acting, talking body?

After 8 months of thinking about that episode (and too many others to mention here), I've realized that in order to move forward towards our ideals and hopes for a better community and better lives for all, we must first move back. Back to where? Back to our bodies; back to our homes; back to our relationships with friends, family, and even strangers; and back to our communities, our neighbors--humans and non-humans.

We've somehow collectively come to think that, in order to consider oneself progressive and a good human being, we simply have to make reference to a set of liberal ideas (equality, human rights, justice, peace) and, every now and then, vote for someone we've never talked to who matches those ideas and, when we're feeling really pumped up, posting a blurb to the virtual world (a world largely removed from bodies and communities). But might it not be time to start thinking about how we can engrain these ideals into the actual contours of our communities? Can we not start creatively imagining how we may embody these beliefs into our everyday actions, including the minutia of our petty existences--brushing our teeth, traveling to work, refraining from group jokes that demean others? Can we not discover practical methods to incorporate these ideals into our communal relations to each other, whether human or non-human?

I think so. I sense it coming. And this movement will inevitably grow for one of two reasons: either we'll recognize its potency and efficacy and willingly adopt it; or unfortunate events will force us to live in such intentional ways. It is my hope that the former plays out first.

Now, I'm always leery of making particular suggestions to people about what this lifestyle may look like. All too often such rhetoric is reduced to self-ingratiating bravado. I'll let the ideas speak for themselves as they take root in our bodies, propelling us to act and think in radically different ways. But do know this: every facet of our lives, from the grand to the incredibly particular, will change accordingly... if we allow it to, and if we are willing to live more inconvenient lives. Because yes, according to our prevailing cultural norms, a life of bodily awareness and activism is not convenient, for it demands constant attention. But I think it is existentially worthwhile, and ethically necessary.

So please remember that, as we move forward, it is wise to first move back.

Welcome back home, y'all.