Day #674 - Bats

And the Communities of our Culture

As I went to collect some firewood last night, I was surprised (greatly surprised in the dusk light) to discover that some bats have made a roost in my woodpile. I am delighted about this - in the sense that we teach the children that we share our planet with our wild friends - and also significantly annoyed, as I cannot now have a fire…

For what it’s worth, the bats were somewhat ambivalent about me, except one, who was patently furious at being disturbed. I think we reached an agreement that we will share the space.

This notion of ‘sharing space’ in one that I explored in the book ‘New York: Community, Spaces, and Performance’, which formed an exploration of a series of spaces in NYC, considering how they were inhabited by parallel, often mutually exclusive, communities (like the Lincoln Centre plaza, inhabited by skateboarders, dancers, audience members, and transitory commuters.

Use your sixty seconds today to consider who inhabits your space. And who inhabits it unseen.

Populations of workers, cleaners, visitors. Night and day communities. Front and back of house communities. Concurrent or separated, by space or time. And how many of these are recognised in your definition of culture, or are they simply outside it, or hidden from it?

This is a community in dialogue with our practice, as Social Leaders. Everyone is welcome in this space.

A special welcome to Wendy, Bryony, Ben, Sharon, and Jim and everyone else who joined our community this week. You are very welcome here.