Strength in Community

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr.

The world is shifting, and it seems like every day the news brings some new wave of fear, hate, and division. It’s hard to not get worn down by it all.

I see a ray of hope shining through this new wave of darkness, and it comes from a single word: Community.

US/Canada

The recent news of (on again/off again) tariffs against Canada from the US really shocked me. There are a lot of things that the US president has said he would do, but it’s hard to really know what will actually take place from what he’s spoken based on his track record.

As a Canadian, I’ve always thought of the US as an ally, neighbor, and partner in many areas of my personal and professional life. So it hurts when such an ally would cause such economic pain on one so close.

I don’t want to get into the politics of it, but just to highlight that this is one way of doing things. The optics seem to point to it being led by a desire for division, isolationism, and prioritizing self over others.

As this goes on, I feel for my fellow writers and creatives in the US. Many of you don’t agree with the actions of the president, and unfortunately are going to feel the hurt too if our two countries duke it out on the global stage.

This tone doesn’t seem to be a new thing from the new president, and from the sidelines I’ve watched as the nation becomes more entrenched in one side or another.

Why am I talking about this? Because I believe in a different way, and I’ve seen the benefits of an alternate approach.

On Isolationism

I am a self starter. If given a choice, I tend to choose to try and do things on my own. In one part, I think it’s because I don’t even think to ask for help along the way. If I have a goal in mind, I put my own effort into it and work it as hard as I can within my personal ability.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised when people in the creative community have reached out to me to offer their help, like the authors who offered to give away free copies of their books to support this newsletter.

I also have had the unfortunate habit of turning inwards when dealing with major events or intense negative emotions. I shut people out or stop talking. It’s taken me a long time to realize how self-destructive this method has been.

This is what I see going on in Canada and the US (and likely other parts of the world). People turning inwards and digging trenches around themselves to protect themselves from other people who are doing the same.

Over time, these trenches get deeper and the division grows as people fight. But in the end, we all lose in these wars.

Isolation and division only help to weaken us. If this is the case, what can we do?

What We Can Do

I believe that one of the answers to this problem is what I mentioned at the beginning: Community.

Looking to the origins of the word, one of the older meanings comes from the Latin word communitatem which means a quality of fellowship or shared relationships based in what we believe in (ref). It is this common ground in what we believe that can bring us together.

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that the common ground between us is our shared passion for writing, reading, and the creative arts. While we all will have our differences, this is our common bond. Many of you are like me, who see the struggles of other creatives and want to do something to help. This is what brings us together.

This is how I see community differentiating from isolationism. With this community, we come together with our common bond and then we look outwards to see what we can do to help others.

It is much easier for me to turn inwards and focus solely on the things that I need or want, but as I have seen (and we are seeing at the global scale), this path leads to a weaker position and intensely negative vibes.

I believe in a different path.

What I Am Doing

Since the beginning of 2024, I have been working to find ways to support other creative people along their journey. The next major step of that is to build a community where we can gather, outside of the algorithms and social platforms that grow less safe by the day (see: Meta’s latest stance and their updates on content moderation).

I have begun gathering interested people in Patreon as an early sign-up for the upcoming community and in less than a month have already grown to over 100 members!

I do want to clarify something from my previous post (Year of the Indie Author), where I talk about the overarching plans and goals of this effort , that this community is open to all Free members and paid members.

There are a number of ways I’d like to increase the reach and impact of the efforts we do (like the Indie Release Radar and Creative Writing Wizard podcast), and so I do give the option for people to help fund the effort as people are able.

This community is just the beginning of what all we can accomplish together. Over the next weeks and months, I’ll continue laying out the future plans yet to be announced as we look to help as many independent creatives as we can (primarily writers, but also looking to grow into other creative communities like art, music, etc).

As is with the Patreon, we will not only look to support others but also support each other within the community. For example, having a way for us to share our progress in our creative goals, a place to look for constructive help in work-in-progress writings or art, and sharing major updates or news about our own works.

We do plan to eventually open this community, or a form of it, to the public creative community. But for now, we want to help establish a solid base with those who enjoy supporting other creatives.

If you’d like to join the community and be a part of the effort to support fellow Indie creatives, sign up and read more here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/indie-creative-121897923

And if you’re looking for your next read, consider checking out the latest releasing Indie Books below. (I’ll announce the newsletter giveaway winner on socials, if they’re open to being tagged on socials).

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and as always, stay creative!