In my work, have the great privilege of leading a number of support groups. Together, these groups are called the Call and Connect Network, and participation is segmented based on age or connection to epilepsy.
Here is something I think about often:
When a community is organized around one thing, they’re organized for anything.
In ways that are deeply significant to inclusion and wellbeing, if we organize a community around one thing — in this case, epilepsy — that community is now in place to care with, for, and about the additional needs of life that emerge. This is because we have created a relational network. In shared kinship and connection, beyond the organizing center, we can also carry each other’s grief. We can rejoice in each other’s celebrations. We can pitch in with resources or referrals if someone needs food, housing, financial assistance, or social connection. The relational center is epilepsy, but this becomes about the fuller range of our lives, too.
When a community is organized around one thing, they’re organized for anything.
This can also involve play and social connection. One of these groups met recently, and multiple people discovered that they had the Tigers game on in the background. So with enjoyment, we moved back and forth between epilepsy topics and updates about the baseball game. Neuromodulation — someone stole 2nd base — stigma has gotten better over time — they’re changing pitchers — epileptologists and nurse practitioners — the Tigers scored!
Everyone participated in all of these directions, and I got the sense that everyone was enjoying the whole of it. If you organize a connectional space around one thing, you have relational space for all things.
— Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 