‘Peace House Community Journal’ Archives
Keep Calm
Peace House Community ”“ A Place to Belong BY MARTI MALTBY American society seems to have become a lot less civil over the years. I know bullies and those who overreact to perceived slights have always existed, but it seems as though people now think it is their patriotic duty to accuse others of committing a moral wrong every time they hear something that offends them. These days conversations and social media aren”™t used to establish mutual understanding as much as to tell other people why they are wrong. In some ways I can understand why this is happening now. Between the pandemic, economic collapse, social unrest, and the loss of routine and certainty, we should expect that people will be on edge. Emotions are running high, and people will react more strongly than usual to things that upset them. But on the other hand, panic never made anything better. (You can put that on a t-shirt if you think it will help anyone around you.) The [...]
The Wisdom of Powerlessness
Peace House Community”“A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBYÂ I”™ve had a horrible time coming up with an idea for this month”™s column. I suppose that if that”™s the worst thing to happen to me, I must be having a good week, but it”™s still frustrating. As I”™ve watched the Coronavirus pandemic unfold, I”™ve been struck by how hard it is for us to grasp the scope of what we are facing. This is, after all, a global pandemic on a scale we haven”™t seen in over a century. And yet, all over the world, everything from sports leagues to local schools are trying to keep to their normal schedules. Even at Peace House Community, I get asked every week when we will fully reopen. I answer that we don”™t know yet but are working on a plan, while inside I am thinking, “Are you insane?! Everyone on staff and all my volunteers are over 50 and most are in high risk categories. [...]
Groundhog Day
Peace House Community””A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBY Back in May, when people had settled into the Covid-19 lockdown, a survey by OnePoll asked Americans how their sense of time was being affected by spending day after day in their homes. The results included: The average American got confused about what day it was five times every week.59% of respondents didn”™t even know what day it was when they took the survey.65% of those polled said they were struggling to stay motivated during self-isolation. When I heard the results, my mind immediately flashed back many months to a meditation discussion I led at PHC. I asked community members what parts of homelessness could never be explained but simply had to be experienced. Several people gave answers that almost exactly mirrored the survey results I just mentioned. Among other things, the community members said: “It”™s like Groundhog Day. Every day is just like the day [...]
