‘When I first joined the ‘Picture This 2’ group, around week 3, it was obvious that there was already a strong sense of community – a friendly (though virtual) space where everyone made their own unique contribution. Laughs, experiences and concerns were all shared. If for some reason a member of the group was missing from a session, they were missed. Even though we never actually met in person it was obvious that everyone looked forward to the sessions each week, and to the chance to see and hear what each other had been doing, to participate, contribute and learn.
We used the picture of the ‘Community is Strength’ billboard, taken in north London on one of my lockdown walks in the summer, as the starting point around the word ‘community’.
Jayne, facilitator of some of the workshops
– What does community mean to you?
– What are the different types of communities you belong to? (E.g. Local, religious, learning, social…)
– What is it important to create a community?
– What kind of community are WE?
‘Our souls
will not be soothed
by what we achieve
how we look
or all the hard work we do
even if we managed to
make all the money in the world
we’d be left feeling empty for something
our souls ache for community
our deepest being craves one another
we need to be connected
to feel alive’
– Rupi Kaur (Canadian poet)
These are some of the words the group came up with to describe our collective ‘Picture This (2)’ selves:
Friendly, multilingual, multicultural, learning, female, fun, online,
supportive, respectful, interesting, caring, creative, sharing,
helpful, international, London, photography, kind, powerful
