The Joys and Challenges of Birthing the AWC

I have experienced loneliness within myself, while in an intimate relationship, and even (especially) in a crowd. The phenomenon of loneliness is sweeping our world in epidemic proportions, according to the CDC, the WHO, and the Office of the Surgeon General. 1 in 2 struggle. As a student of life, and of love, I have actively sought to alleviate my own inner despair, and sense of non-belonging my entire life. Perhaps all any of us want, truly, is to be held, loved, heard, respected, cherished, and advocated for; as well as to heal the sense of abandonment, rejection, and ostracization that so many of us deeply internalize, as the inevitable fallout of life. I also desire mutual commitment; to be challenged and embraced with a fierce loyalty; a "ride or die".

I learned that there are ways of being that engender feelings of closeness and belonging, and also ways of being that destroy it. In the desperate attempt to preserve my foundational connections, I have become something of a language engineer, in service of facilitating that beautiful sense of belonging and love for others, and therefore myself. I have studied modern psychological research and theory, Motivational Interviewing, Peer Support philosophy, 12 Step community culture, Internal Family Systems, Yoga/Tantra practice and philosophy, Indigenous American practice and philosophy, the practice of art in many forms, and now Restorative Practices.

These behavioral and cultural sciences have given us so much. Especially since the full acknowledgement of the lasting affects of trauma and early attachment, beginning in the 80's on through to today. We now have functional MRI to watch our brains respond to words and gestures in real time. We are understanding the interplay between cognition and physiological response through neuroscience.

The concept of "what fires together wires together" now informs our understanding of behavior. Trauma reenactment was studied by Freud, but has now been validated by Van der Kolk and his tribe. This accounts for the troubling and mysterious manifestations of behaviors that just appear in certain situations, suggesting that they may somehow be manifestations of past unhealed trauma.

The Artists' Wellness Collaborative attempts to address loneliness on many levels. Through IFS and 12 Steps. we address the pervasive sense of non-belonging at the our deepest core, by teaching inner-exploration, love, and forgiveness; Fair speech with others through MI and peer support, affective statements and questions, and power-sharing in circles, we can get beneath inauthenticity in our closest relationships. Through through service and creative contribution to our communities;outreach to our greater community, and inclusion through collaboration, we can close the gap of detachment from our greater community and dissolve biases. We can even begin to overcome contempt for our historical inequities through activism, and creating a new system of organization that is different from the herrarachical power structures in policies and the world. We can connect to the divine in our own ways, and in collective ways through creativity and nature.

We are an experiment. Our hypothesis is that we can indeed change the world, through transforming ourselves via this and other organizations. We want people to feel what ongoing, committed, sustained, and healthy belonging feels like. through activism and systemic reform. It's a tall order, but we're taking it day by day, bit. by bit. A we're moving the ball down the field, a little further each day.