How we show up : reclaiming family, friendship, and community

An Invitation to Community and Models for Connection After almost every presentation activist and writer Mia Birdsong gives to executives, think tanks, and policy makers, one of those leaders quietly confesses how much they long for the profound community she describes. They have family, friends, and colleagues, yet they still feel like they're standing alone. They're "winning" at the American Dream, but they're lonely, disconnected, and unsatisfied. It seems counterintuitive that living the "good life"--the well-paying job, the nuclear family, the upward mobility--can make us feel isolated and unhappy. But in a divided America, where only a quarter of us know our neighbors and everyone is either a winner or a loser, we've forgotten the key element that helped us make progress in the first place: community. In this provocative, groundbreaking work, Mia Birdsong shows that what separates us isn't only the ever-present injustices built around race, class, gender, values, and beliefs, but also our denial of our interdependence and need for belonging. In response to the fear and discomfort we feel, we've built walls, and instead of leaning on each other, we find ourselves leaning on concrete. Through research, interviews, and stories of lived experience, How We Show Up returns us to our inherent connectedness where we find strength, safety, and support in vulnerability and generosity, in asking for help, and in being accountable. Showing up--literally and figuratively--points us toward the promise of our collective vitality and leads us to the liberated well-being we all want. "After almost every presentation activist and writer Mia Birdsong gives to executives, think tanks, and policy makers, one of those leaders quietly confesses how much they long for the profound community she describes. They have family, friends, and colleagues, yet they still feel like they're standing alone. They're "winning" at the American Dream, but they're lonely, disconnected, and unsatisfied. It seems counterintuitive that living the "good life" - the well-paying job, the nuclear family, the upward mobility - can make us feel isolated and unhappy. But in a divided America, where only a quarter of us know our neighbors and everyone is either a winner or a loser, we've forgotten the key element that helped us make progress in the first place : community. In this provocative, groundbreaking work, Mia Birdsong shows that what separates us aren't only the ever-present injustices built around race, class, gender, values, and beliefs, but also the denial of our interdependence and need for belonging. In response to the fear and discomfort we feel, we've built walls, and instead of leaning on one another, we find ourselves leaning on concrete. Through research, interviews, and stories of lived experience, 'How We Show Up' returns us to our inherent connectedness where we find strength, safety, and support in vulnerability and generosity, in asking for help, and in being accountable. Showing up - literally and figuratively - points us toward the promise of our collective vitality and leads us to the liberated well-being we all want."--Taken from back cover A Provocative, Essential Guide To Showing Up For Each Other And Cultivating Community, From Activist, Community Organizer And Thought Leader Whose Viral Ted Talk Has Been Viewed More Than 1.5 Million Times From Occupy To Black Lives Matter To The Various Marches And Protests, We Have Had Some Powerful Moments Over The Last Decade That Have Galvanized And Created New, But Brief, Feelings Of Community. Many Of Us, However, Haven't Figured Out How To Spark That Feeling On Our Own, Or How To Build Off Or Sustain Those Moments. We Are Longing For A Kind Of Sugar-borrowing And Stoop-sitting Closeness We Imagine Existed In The 50s. In How We Show Up, Community Visionary Mia Birdsong Delivers A Compelling, Timely Understanding Of What True, Authentic Family And Community Can Look Like -- Outside Of The 2-parent, 2.5 Kids Norm We All Have In Our Heads. Today We Have More Single Parents, Couples Who Raise Children Outside Of Marriage, And More People Growing Older Alone. Tackling Topics Like Creating Safe Spaces, Creativity In Community, Raising Children In Community, And More, How We Show Up Is The Antidote To The Social Fractures We Face In Our Nation Today. By Sharing Stories And Actionable Advice, And Taking Cues From Marginalized Communities--people Of Color, Women, Lgbtq -- Mia Birdsong Offers Us The Blueprint We Need To Build True Community Wherever We Are. A provocative, essential guide to cultivating community and solidarity, from an activist, community organizer, and thought leader whose viral TED talk has been viewed more than 1.5 million times. From Occupy to Black Lives Matter to the various marches and protests, we have had some powerful moments over the last decade that have galvanized and created new, but brief, feelings of community. Many of us, however, haven't figured out how to spark that feeling on our own, or how to build on or sustain those moments. We are longing for a kind of sugar-borrowing and stoop-sitting closeness we imagine existed in the 50s. In How We Show Up , community visionary Mia Birdsong delivers a compelling, timely understanding of what true, authentic family and community can look like — outside of the 2-parent, 2.5 kids norm we all have in our heads. Today we have more single parents, couples who raise children outside of marriage, and more people growing... "A provocative, essential guide to showing up for each other and cultivating community, from activist, community organizer and thought leader whose viral TED talk has been viewed more than 1.8 million times"-- Provided by publisher