What qualifies as success as a weaver?
Our mission is pretty clear: to weave inclusive communities (currently virtual) and help end our national predicament of isolation and hyper-individualism. Itโs a huge and excellent project, so itโs important to have a metric of progress that we can embrace. That had me stuck for quite a while because it was intimidating to think I had to reach out and change hearts and minds in observable ways. Impractical, I know, and unstated, but the impression was there, and it was keeping me on the sidelines.
But then I remembered the Butterfly Effect. Remember that one? A part of Chaos Theory, itโs the principle that says that tiny variations in one place can have enormous effects in another. Theoretically, a butterfly flapping its wings sets into motions air molecules, which in turn sets into motion other air molecules, and so one, until at some point that initial flapping of the butterflyโs wings results in massive changes to whole weather systems on the other side of the world.
If weโre going to create a culture of connection maybe itโs enough that we simply make the attempt to reach out and let what happens, happen. Flap our wings. If the data from Pew Research are accurate, this is a very opportune time to do exactly that.
First, weโre polarized. No news there. Pewโs studies show that just a month before this last election roughly 80 percent of both registered Democrats and registered Republicans said their differences with the opposing side were about โcore American values,โ and 90 percent said they believed this country would sustain โlasting harmโ if the other side won. However, again according to Pew, this is a yawning divide that no one really wants. Large majorities of both Donald Trump (86 per cent) and Joe Biden (89 per cent) supporters surveyed this fall said their candidate, if elected, should prioritize addressing the needs of all Americans, โeven if it means disappointing some of his supporters.โ So weโre divided, and donโt want to be.
This fundamental discontent motivates me, and I hope it does you too, to risk making contact and not worry about โsuccess.โ No matter how effective it appears to be at the time, the smallest attempt can yield significant results far beyond our horizons. Remember those butterflies.
Just start
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