Community Connective Tissue

Before - Photo by Christopher Heron, Feb 2015

Here is photographic evidence of resilience in our community. The before picture is of a solitary man in need of a ride; taken by a solitary man alone in a gas guzzling truck. The after picture is of the two men traveling together along their joint way.

Our community is a place where hitchhiking is still both possible and safe (which leads it to be a common occurrence). This is the embodiment of resilience not merely because the carbon footprint of the entire community goes down with ride sharing, but because it forges bonds of camaraderie as well as reinforcing a general faith in humankind (including strangers).

After - Photo by Christopher Heron, Feb 2015

If we are to shift broken paradigms and steer our communities through tumultuous planetary change we must certainly reduce the amount of combustion vehicles combusting each day. But more importantly we must believe there is a community worth sailing with. The act of hitching and giving rides to hitch hikers does just that. It reminds us that regardless of appearance we are all equally peers of humanity, that we are all headed to the same destination - to tomorrow. I feel the more social cohesion we can cultivate today the better the condition our shared tomorrow will be in, and the more likely we will be able to work together to solve the issues we may find in that future present.

With faith in those around us we can weather climate’s storms.

By Christopher Heron