I 
have been doing some thinking this week around how we as individuals show up in our worlds and what our expectations are of the organisations we interact with. There are a number of reasons for this. I have been doing some thinking
- for a Challenges and Opportunities session that will give us time with members to explore what Neighbourhood Health means for VCFSE organisations…
- about how technology could help to support individuals to navigate their lives and what the balance of responsibility is between the individual and the state…
- about how my two offspring are creating purpose in their young lives through community, joining and leading societies and clubs that bring people together around shared interests and a desire to grow together whilst also seeking to stand out from the crowd as they look for employment…
This has been given some fuel by a number of thinkers. Rewatching Jon Alexander’s TedX Cardiff talk ‘A Time for Citizens’ , reading for the first time Wendell Berry’s What I stand for is what I stand on, and also being prompted to revisit Cormac Russell’s TedX talk on moving from what’s wrong to what’s strong in preparation for a development session with Health and Social Care system partners.
Across all three thinkers there is, I think, a common thread of people recognising that the system (the world they inhabit) is not working for them and then taking action to change that. In all three there is a move from a position of passivity – whether that is receiving services, consuming activities or expecting a movement to act for me – to a position of informed collective action.
In all three there is a recognition that we all have something to offer our community through participating in our worlds – and that when we do participate it is liberating, empowering and has the power to change our world. The problem is not ‘out there’ to be solved by some mysterious other it is ours to share and solve together. And the problem, whatever it is, does not stand in isolation, it is as interwoven and complex as our lives and so solutions or interventions need to recognise this too.
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