The Ragged Optimist 97
“Love and kindness are a form of resistance,” said David Byrne recently. That shouldn’t sound radical - The Ragged Optimist is from a generation where The Lord’s Prayer was read in assembly every day, and when you take out the god stuff that was a reminder that we were all part of one community, a moment of coming together, and at its heart was kindness, forgiveness, and compassion.
The Ragged Optimist went to listen to Martin Shaw at an event by The Margate Bookshop recently, and Shaw spoke about the opposition he received when he spoke openly about finding god, and it seems a few people have been on similar journeys lately - making peace with themselves. finding community in faith, but at the same time exposing themselves to - almost disappointment, if not anger.
None of which is to say that The Ragged Optimist is finding god - firmly agnostic, over here.
But in a week when the Met Police again raided a Quaker Meeting House (and - can you imagine them storming into a church, or a synagogue? No, probably not) - it’s a reminder that people of faith have often been fighting for social change, and have always been strong allies to reformers. The Ragged Optimist comes from Primitive Methodist stock, and you’ll find Primitives, Quakers, and Unitarians shoulder-to-shoulder at every moment of change in British society.
The Ragged Optimist visited Union Church in Margate recently, where they’re doing great work by setting up free studio spaces for artists - very much in the way that Andrew Mawson talks about, when he first took over as vicar at Bromley-by-Bow, in The Social Entrepreneur. His work there transformed how we think about health and social carer in this country, and it all started with him listening to find out what local people wanted and needed, and what challenges they faced. It’ll be interesting to see Union Church open up - it’s right on the line between some of the poorest and worst-maintained social housing in the whole country, and the super-rich art elite’s new quarter in an old print works. Giving space freely, letting people try, being welcoming - that’s an optimist’s act.
Volunteers have been scrubbing 5,000 oysters ready for them to be put into Chichester Harbour to help filter water and restore the eco-system. Spotted by reader Russ.
The first of the Wildlife Trusts, a national coalition of 47 independent charities with nearly a million members and 2600 nature reserves, has reached its centenary. Sydney Long began the county trusts movement when he assembled a group of 12 subscribers in the George and Dragon at Cley in north Norfolk. They snapped up the nearby marshes for £5160 at auction, turning 407 acres into “a bird sanctuary for all time”.
The Guardian have collected together a gallery of wind farms in China, after somebody said the country didn’t have any. They’re the future, and they’re rather beautiful.
“They were one of the first [beaver] pairs to be released and, while we hoped they may stay together, it was far from guaranteed – so really hopeful and heartening to see.”
The Mushroom Pavilion on the campus of arts organisation Fundación Casa Wabi in Oaxaca, Mexico is apparently suitable for growing mushroom and hosting community gatherings. It’s rather beautiful - and that occulus reminds me of the Pines Calyx at St Margaret’s Bay.
Wildcats seem to be doing alright in Scotland, and that’s more good news after there was a small rise in the capercaillie population last year.
“In any sector - from housing to health to social enterprise - there’s a seemingly invisible layer that keeps everything connected. Infrastructure and membership organisations … are the weavers: sharing knowledge, spotting opportunities, connecting people, and strengthening the whole ecosystem.” A too-short article about a problem facing a lot of groups and small organisations at the moment.
Have you read Dougald Hine’s book At Work In The Ruins yet? You should - The Ragged Optimist’s copy is well-thumbed.
Talking Birds in Coventry are hosting a creative writing workshop led by Nirmal Puwar, offering time and space together to think about daylight, unfurling, sustenance and the coming season.
Stewart Brand is an optimist’s hero. A Merry Prankster, publisher of the Whole Earth Catalogue, convener of the New Games as anti-war protest, web pioneer, and he made this series for the BBC in the 1990s. And How Buildings Learn still feel relevant today.
China’s wind farms