Stepping Into the Void

Think of cheese cloth. Notice the loose and open weave of it. Clearly note the woven nature of the cloth. Now, take it and pull in four directions easily to bring it taut. You will see great gaps in the weave but still realize the wholeness of the cloth.

Now imagine a finer quality piece of cloth, a cotton shirting, perhaps, or maybe fine linen. You know the fibers are smaller and tighter. You also know the weave is finer but recall the spaces left in the weave of the cheese cloth. This is fabric, too, and the spaces are there just smaller. Very much smaller. And so, we conclude from this short demonstration that fabric is woven fine or loose and spaces exist between the woven fibers that make the cloth what we see.

Still there are voids in the whole. That is the nature of woven fabric.

Our communities are like that – woven fabrics of people connecting and touching and living life together in context to one another. Those communities connect and touch other communities also living together in context to one another and regional – even national – contexts. This is the nature of communal life. It is what it is. It is natural and expected.

The fabric is made up of strands of strength but air spaces among the strands that build the network of woven substance. In the air spaces is room to think, feel, and be independent persons. Each has its opportunity to explore life, learn and experience growth. Not far away is another person doing pretty much the same thing. Multiply that by thousands and the community resonates with individualism, creativity and opportunity to develop in hundreds of ways that are unique to it.

The same for all other communities. Those that are healthy in mind, body and spirit thrive, grow and prosper. All or most of the inhabitants benefit from this success. Life quality is good and supports a wide variety of differences among the inhabitants. Diversity is present and prospers. A community that interacts well with one another shares that diversity and benefits from it. Strength is realized, so too a complex and rich culture results. All benefit from each other and their differences.

The closer inhabitants are to one another in spirit the more they share their differences and ideas. This makes for a hugely creative environment in which new thought, business and public life forms are allowed to happen. The tempo of this creative process beats faster. Excitement greets the results. Here is a community on the move.

But it didn’t happen automatically. First one or two people had to move into the air spaces – the voids – in the fabric of the community. They had to take heart and faith that they would not be dashed to pieces for taking these steps. They had to feel the risk was worth it. And others nearby needed to accept their experimentation and support it.

Risk takers are needed in every community. Acceptors of risk takers are needed in every community. The two elements are required if new things are to come into being.

Risk taking – the ability to step into voids and, even with fear, make discoveries that will benefit others. From this the community prospers. From this different ideas and diversity of personhoods meld into a dynamic that drives creative synergy forward for that community.

I write these thoughts because we have a string of old urban communities about 45 miles from Chicago that have slipped in economic and cultural vitality for many decades. These cities are Joliet, Aurora and Elgin. South, west and northwest of the city loosely. All on rivers and with a strong history of backbone industries that fueled their growth and sustainability long ago. All supplied the Chicago megalopolis economy with gritty products and services necessary for Chicago’s prolonged success and growth.

Rockford is yet another city similar to the others, but 90 miles distant from Chicago. It, too, fed Chicago’s economic engines with goods and services needed to make Chicago an international manufacturing giant.

Innovation and history came from the interaction of these four cities with Chicago. Now in 2016 each of the four cities continues to remake themselves for a kinder present and more successful future. They are making strides. But their pace is slow.

How do we help them adapt to their new futures more quickly? How do we energize their people with hopes and discoveries that will enthrall and feed their reach into the future?

What do they have in common other than distance from Chicago and reduced circumstances? Rather than focusing on measures of failure or decline, what do we focus on to build strong futures?

In all of these communities these elements exist:

·         Diverse populations (ethnic, economic, educational, spiritual and cultural)

·         Loose fabric of community (lots of air space!)

·         Housing and commercial building stock ready for adaption and re-use

·         Infrastructure to move people, goods and ideas

·         Shared history for pride of the people and their identity

These are all the raw materials each community needs to be strong, healthy and vibrant. Leadership will help make the elements work well together. Investment of time and effort by the inhabitants and players will take advantage of the air spaces of opportunity to move the community forward.

And external investment would help move each community’s march of change at a faster clip. Such investment comes not at the beginning of change, however. First, the community must recognize its elements of value and make good use of them. This requires individuals to take a deep breath and step into the air spaces.

There is much to do if good things are to be accomplished. But I have faith that people of good will are plenteous and will step forward. The only question for the rest of us is:

How can we help?

February 5, 2016