I am not an atom - I’m a molecule

#06 why we find our power when we collectivise

Welcome back to Go Prefigure.

GPf’s continuing mission:to make space to imagine new social solidarities and new ways of connecting.  To water the green shoots of radical hope and collective solutions, and share inspiring ideas and culture. To look up at the sky together and ask “what if…”

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From atom to molecule

Personally, I feel bored by constant pursuit of my own self-interest. It doesn’t feel amazing. I can be comfortable, and ambitious, but something is missing. We’re given a constant, weak connection of social media interconnectivity, but are often left feeling empty.

I am not an atom, isolated. I am part of a beautifully complex molecule that allows chain reactions to happen. I need the other atoms to realise my potential. Alone I am inert, bouncing around empty space.

“Jak Maly Jesy Atom?” Vintage illustration (source: Wikimedia Commons)

In this issue, I will go from this slightly poetic idea to exploring how volunteer groups come about, and how they are sustained.

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Finding your chemical bonds: dare to connect

I think a lot of our missed opportunities are from fear: fundamentally most people need the social legitimacy of groups to take action. 

But what groups? I’m not religious, so churches are out. I’m not into political parties. I can gather my mates for a celebration lunch easily; less so to ask some big “what ifs” and support each other to do something about it. 

“I am an atom in a beautifully complex molecule that allows chain reactions to happen. I need the other atoms to realise my potential.”

What allows individuals to form the “chemical bonds” to become a molecule, an effective collective? What setup is need to enable our molecule selves to react with the outer world - to take action in it?

There are many questions that I haven’t yet fully answered myself: how do we reduce the barriers to connecting around common causes? What if we can’t all be together at the same time? How much leadership is needed?