Smuggling Grace

Did you know that many of the people who fought adamantly for the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) met each other as teenagers at a summer camp?

The story is told in the Netflix original film Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. A group of disabled teenagers spent a portion of their summer at a very formative place called Camp Jened. Though they experienced a great deal of exclusion, discrimination, and isolation in their hometowns and local schools, they came alive in community with one another. It changed their lives and empowered them.

It empowered them much so that years later as adults, they blocked New York City traffic in wheelchairs, advocated fiercely for disability rights in Congressional hearings, and staged days-long occupation of legislative offices for the 504 sit-ins. The 504 sit-in in San Francisco lasted 28 days and is to this day the longest sit-in in a federal building. They just took over the place and shut it down.

And this amazing community of friends and chosen family met at a summer camp where they envisioned and enacted a new form of community. When they all arrived as individuals on buses at Camp Jened, they could not have imagined this. But relationships matter, and small groups of people can change the world. I take heart in this.

Change always has to start somewhere. Change always has to start in community somewhere. Here’s the trailer for Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution.

I was walking toward a building near campus yesterday when a person waiting outside held the door open for me. The person was about to take in a big cart, but before moving it, it seemed easier to let me go through first. So the person held the door open for me as I approached it.

When I saw that this was about to happen, I immediately sped up my walking toward the door. I probably doubled my speed. Then the person said,

“Oh, no need to hurry!” This was spoken as a kind reminder that I wasn’t inconveniencing.

I thought about how frequently we worry about taking up space, or inconveniencing, even when we are given an authentic occasion to receive. Some of us have been socialized in this direction especially.

That’s when I thought of something that the poet Mary Oliver says in Don’t Hesitate: “Joy is not made to be a crumb.”

Likewise, I suppose,

The taking up of space — being noticed, being cared for — is not made to be hurried.

The gift of receiving is never made to be small.

–Renee Roederer

This summer, I’ve been keeping a list on my phone.

What Does Freedom Feel Like? (Here are just a few things on my list)
–The warmth of sunshine
–The awareness that you’re making a good memory while you’re in it
–The wind on my face while biking
–The sudden scent of honeysuckles in the air
–Smooshing your face into a peony
–Inbox zero
–Not bowing to a tyrant

As you’ll see, my last entry is a bit more literal. But these are just a few of the things that help me feel free.

What about you?

And if we have moments like these, how can they bolster us and encourage us, so that we have energy to participate in building freedom for everyone? Everyone deserves moments like these.

— Renee Roederer

I was present in the midst of a group conversation where multiple people said,

“You just don’t see that anymore.”

and

“I just don’t see many present examples right now.”

and

“It’s so rare to experience that these days.”

At one point, we were talking about forgiveness. At another point, we were talking about kindness. No one in this conversation had become cynical; instead, I believe I was hearing a yearning for expressions of care, both public and personal.

Or to use another word, we need gentleness. We need to practice it. We need to receive it. We need a gentler world.

This is different, of course, than needing a comfortable world. There is no need decrease the tenacity and strength of voices crying out in anger and pain when they are experiencing violence and being marginalized. Sometimes, we make calls toward kindness and “civility” so we don’t have to be uncomfortable with the righteous anger and pain people are expressing. No, not this.

But I wonder what would happen if we responded with kindness and tenderness? I wonder what would happen if we responded not with defensiveness but gentleness?

I also wonder what would happen if we chose to practice more gentleness toward ourselves right now. This is a human need all the time.

In all these things, I’m just wondering aloud today. I would love to hear from you too.

What do you wonder?

What do you think?

What do you long for?

–Renee Roederer

Each of us is unique and particular, distinct and differentiated,
yes
(and these are great gifts)

But in every moment,
each person is a We.

Every single one of us is a Collective —
we are Plural
not only in a myriad of
thoughts,
feelings,
memories, and
impulses,
each as plentiful and contradictory as the next —

but also

We represent internalized others.
We are a nexus of relationships, embodied.

Who is always rooted in Whose.

Whose —
not possession or ownership.
not fate or determinism.

Whose —
belonging,
collective calling,
sacred possibility.

Sacred actuality.
We only need to awaken to it.

–Renee Roederer

— Photos by Renee Roederer

I’m grateful to share this interview with Miles Levin — filmmaker, writer, creator, speaker, and a tremendous friend. Miles is the creator of Under the Lights, both a short film available on YouTube and a full feature film set to release later this year. Together, we recorded this conversation in partnership with MiYET (Michigan Youth with Epilepsy in Transition) to talk about the film and offer encouragement to teens living with epilepsy as they imagine goals and build a sense of purpose for their future.

As we explored the themes of Under the Lights, we kept coming back to one core idea: “Treat epilepsy with community.” This phrase, first lifted up at the Epilepsy Foundation of America Leadership Conference, feels like both a conviction and an invitation. I’m grateful to Miles for crafting a story that sparks meaningful questions and reminds us of the power of connection — because none of us are meant to face life’s challenges alone. I hope you’ll watch and share!

It’s not Sunday, but here’s some bonus nature photography from the Matthaei Botanical Gardens. Bonus Beauty!

— Photos by Renee Roederer

Earlier this week, I watched a 1984 classic in a movie theatre. It was a back for a theatre viewing.

I love every Christopher Guest mockumentary. I’ve only seen This is Spinal Tap once, and the re-viewing didn’t disappoint. So funny! And this is the part that surprised me most: The same cast is coming out with a part 2 (like 40 years later!) in September — Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

— Renee Roederer