(Re)envisioning Community: A Metanarrative

First, I would like to thank Stephen for not only providing an entry point into what could be a vibrant thread of conversation on this blog, but also for providing me, personally, a reason to refocus my energy towards this blog. While Stephen, in many ways, returned our attentions to a theme we have discussed often throughout this semester, I find it important to share my interpretation of the conversation that followed his entry, and some of the thoughts I have long mulled on but have yet put out for many of you to hear.

A recap of today's discussion: Today we discussed this blog: just one place where we enact our (micro?)community. We spoke of a "community of practice," a concept when have discussed at other times throughout the semester.  After leaving the discussion, I felt (1) Invested in composing an entry (in the near-term) to this area where writing/community/reflective activity occurs (2) There was something odd about the seeming disconnection between our initial conversations of community, and those that followed regarding revision, editing, and proofreading. For example, we talked about how our perceptions of these concepts can differ from other constituencies (e.g. students and instructors) who are also (more and less active) members of the larger community in which we are situated. Moreover, Professor Dyehouse shared an opportunity to partake in a collaborative writing project with a member who is outside of our more immediate, university based, constituencies (e.g. peer tutors; writing center administrators; tuttees; faculty; AEC staff, etc.). I am beginning to wonder, then, what are the many ways "our" community comes together? Who do "we" (and, not) count as members of that community? And, what are our rationales for doing so? In other words, I am seeing our conversations about "revision" as directly interrelated with our conversations on community.

A recent thought: Almost three weeks ago, I attended a panel discussion at CCCC where Professor Hensley Owens discussed the some of the challenges of being a mother/academic. One point in particular has resonated with me since that time. She shared a story of presenting at another conference, with her newborn child in one of those shoulder carriers do-hickeys. In doing so, she provided a reflective look into her life as someone who inhabits (at least) two subjectivities (mother/academic). However, what I took as the more powerful aspects were that (1) she shared her vulnerabilities (the difficulties and complications of giving a presentation at an academic with a child attached to her hip literally), and said that while people sometimes think she makes "it look easy," occupying such a hybrid-role is nevertheless very taxing and very rewarding at times. (2) she shared so much with a large crowd, maybe of people she barely knew, but yet that she considered a community that she was nevertheless invested in.

A return to our discussion: Many of you, today, questioned what is community? You asked how do we define, and gauge what "good" or "valuable" communities are? You asked how do we perceive our roles for self and other in these communities in different ways? You shared. And, demonstrated that while we many of us hold different perspectives. we nevertheless seem to relate in amiable and happy ways. I know that I enjoy our time at 12 on Wednesdays: smiling faces, people who identify with some of the things I care about in life, people who are willing to consider, and reconsider, and than consider again a multitude of topics that are more and less "directly" linked to writing, and our roles as writing facilitators.

A thought on community: Community in the center, to me, is when I come in and say hi to the receptionist (I know all of their names, those that work during my time period). It is talking with them, getting to know a little bit about them-what they want to share, and what I want to share with them.

Another thought on community: Community in the center, to me, is knowing the faces of the regulars, and saying hi to them when they come in for a session, even when its not you.

Community etc: But the community I value most, perhaps, in the center are those moments when I am talking with others in actual physical space, in the fleeting moments where we are at some place together. Moments like when Cathryn asks if I want a cup of tea, and makes it for me; or, when, any of us are having a bad, horrible, no good day and we pause for a moment, and rally to help support one another by listening, exchanging strategies/tactics, and just showing that we a humans who care for one another. It is the moments when we realize that it is not just the material and economic products that matter in our work, but also ethical quality (in terms of how we form subjectivity not morals here) of how we approach such a process.