What we must do is commit ourselves to some future that can include each other and to work toward that future with the particular strengths of our individual identities. And in order for us to do this, we must allow each other our differences at the same time as we recognize our sameness.
~ Audre Lorde
Dear Springhouse community,
I am deeply grateful for the ways that the Earth shows me the many ways life both unifies and diversifies, especially in these days of great division and polarization. Several days a week, I run by the Little River. Each time, I am struck by all that happens there – the beauty of the heron as she flies over the river next to me; the family barbequing and swimming offering me marshmallows as I run by; and the old dogs that amble along, finding their way back home. It’s a little community down there, and its diversity enriches my experience of it.
When my children were much younger and we lived in Colorado, our family became friends with a family from Nepal. One night, we went over to their house for dinner. I could smell the delicious food the moment I got out of our car in the apartment parking lot. We spent the evening together, unified in our love and connection to each other, while experiencing many differences between us: the women ate in the kitchen, separate from the rest of us; we ate with our hands; and there was food that we did not recognize. Our lived experiences were very different. My family lived in the suburbs of Colorado, and this family sought asylum in the U.S. due to political violence in their country. One thing I remember clearly, as we ate with our hands, was the father of the family saying how he felt much more nourished when he ate with his hands rather than a fork. I hadn’t considered this kind of connection to my body and my food before.
As we drove home, my son asked more about why this family had to leave their country. I explained how, in some countries, life-giving cultural practices and languages are stripped away by people who want to take control of a people and their land. As I said this, I remember the dumbfounded look on my 8-year-old son’s face. After he had so much fun with our friends, he wondered out loud, “Why would anyone do that?” That is a very good question. I know this question does not have one answer. I believe one reason is that some of us have learned to fear differences. Many of us have not learned how to take care of the vulnerability that comes with encountering difference – even within ourselves. The thing is, safety won’t come from trying to make things the same. That is not life. Life connects us to each other and also makes us different from one another – that is the mystery and beauty of life. It is important to design lives, communities, and learning in ways that respect that mystery.
At Springhouse, the third design principle we practice is building beloved community. We do this by doing what Audre Lorde writes above: We respect individuality, we foster unity, and we take care of relationships. Our curriculum, the purpose of which is cultural renewal, prioritizes participation in our local community. When we participate in our community, we can choose to participate with places and people that look similar to us, or we can step out of our comfort zone, across cultural differences, and connect. This is how we actually learn to respect differences – by encountering other people and places. If we do not design communities in ways that intentionally invite difference – that intentionally invite us to connect with people and places different from us – then we will gravitate toward sameness for safety’s sake.
We participate in our community – not to save – but to connect and to serve. We participate in our community because we do not live in a vacuum – we are connected to our place and the larger community we are a part of. The purpose of conventional education, unfortunately, is not community connection. Children are bussed into a building and stay there most of the day, disconnected from their larger community. Often, those who speak the same language stick together, those who look the same stick together, and those groups (young people and adults alike) often do not know how to connect with each other. To come together, we must design our communities and learning spaces in ways that invite connection across differences as well as the care needed for the vulnerability that comes with that connection.
At Springhouse, we do our best to design in ways that respect and celebrate the uniqueness of each person. We do our best to foster unity around our shared existence and challenges. We are committed to taking care of our relationships as we learn how to be together in community with our wild landscapes, too. We are looking forward to a very vital year with a new English-Spanish two-way language immersion program, a robust group of teens in our high school, and rich adult programs with people attending from around the world. There are many ways for people of all ages to be a part of Springhouse, for the short- and long- term. I hope to see you on campus or online this year.
Gratefully and with love,
Jenny
