testimony: community The testimony for the 2020–2021 school year at SFFS is community, and we’ve asked Director of Community Engagement Guybe Slangen to share his thoughts on this important element of our Quaker philosophy and what it means to him. THE ME AND THE WE by Guybe Slangen One of the biggest takeaways for me from this absolutely crazy year is the combination of individual actions leading to collective impact, or as neurobiologist and author Dr. Dan Siegel frames it, the ME and the WE connection. He argues that “... While we are individuals with our own experiences and perspectives, our brains are built and function on the interconnections of a larger, symbiotic world. Who you are is both an internal (Me) and an interconnected (We) self that shapes your identity and sense of belonging.” This ME-WE relationship is what community means to me, and it also makes me think of two of my favorite quotes. 1) “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi among friends: fall 2020
To me this speaks to the need for individual responsibility in communities. It also reminds me of something my mom used to tell me as a kid. I was big into saving the planet, recycling, all that, and she used to say if I wanted a cleaner environment I should start by cleaning my room! Little did I know at the time that she was delivering Gandhi’s message, albeit in a much more direct, demanding way. And there’s so much truth to this. A kinder, greener, more equitable world starts with us as individuals. What am I willing to do, to say, to give or give up, to question or challenge within myself as an individual to work towards the community, city, country, or world we need? Problems don’t solve themselves, and require each of us to act—whether it’s wearing a mask or casting a ballot or cleaning
our rooms. This is why two of our three community queries this year focus on the ME: • How am I taking care of myself so I can better help others in my communities? • How am I called to action by my communities - great and small? –––––––––––––––– 2) “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Hellen Keller But individuals alone can’t make a difference on a large scale. Not to say those actions don’t matter, they do indeed. However, the problems we face today—the pandemic, racial injustice, climate change, to name a few—impact us all and can
