How have you experienced the Solidarity Economy? What does it mean to you? This past weekend I had the sweet and good for-tune of finding resonance with dozens of clearly vibrating humans at the annual Solidarity Economy Network festival in the fresh air Berkshires of Massachusetts. Day one was filled with loosely planned and elegantly facilitated workshops that included topics like Economics 4 Emancipation and activities like laughter yoga.
I wrote an article about the sexual abuse crisis exposed on a grand scale in the Roman Catholic Church and pointed to the gender divide, along with other obvious-to-everyone observations, that helped set the stage for this crisis. I grew up Catholic and now reflect on the constant frustration and cognitive dissonance I felt in my immediate family, in my CCD classes, and during mass — about the depth of content and feeling evoked in me with the religious teachings and the absence or shallowness of conversation and lack of connection.
