What does it mean to be Islanders? What are the unique issues that we face?
It hardly bears saying that the past two+ years have been challenging. How do they affect us individually and in our various circles and threads of community? Do you feel that your perspective has been or is being heard, valued, and taken into consideration in your various spheres?
At The Loop, our feeling is that here on this Earth, one answer never exists for anything. Anytime the public forum is dominated by a single voice on an issue, creative solutions are suffocated. Our island is inhabited by many knowledgeable, resourceful people, and you are among that number! Islanders represent a beautiful diversity of thought and expression. It’s more than time to regroup and reground in respect, curiosity, and appreciation of the gifts, quirks, and abilities of one another, and what an amazing resource we collectively and individually offer this island.
We each have our own thoughts on a variety of issues and circumstances. Let’s talk now. Let’s get to know each other once more as neighbors, colleagues, friends, and Islanders of all ages, because winter is coming, and pressures are likely to resume. Let’s place ourselves in a good way, so we can weather the storms with our most resourceful thinking and with genuine care for each and everyone. Let’s reconnect to the flow and magic of island life, to the intriguing personalities around us, to the compassionate, festive, and purposeful ways we come together, to the beautiful nature outside our door, and to whatever brought us to the island in the first place, or has compelled us to stay.
There’s a reason we’re all here on this island: and that reason is positive and compelling. We invite you to bring your generous heart and questing mind to the pages of The Loop. We don’t expect you to agree or align with all that is written, but we at The Vashon Loop hope that we all take the opportunity to engage with the stories, articles, poetry, photos, jokes, and more by our fellow Islanders with a willingness to consider new perspectives, expand our thinking, and to be surprised, delighted, informed, and amused. Perhaps you too will be inspired to contribute to the Loop.
We Islanders share far more common ground than any particular stance on an issue, or a personal choice might suggest. Indeed if nothing else, the Island is our common ground! The Loop aims to bring Islanders together in community, and to support us to rediscover and affirm our shared values and concerns. We feel that the lives of Vashon Islanders are inherently better with more voices at the table, and that we are strongest when we truly care for one another, take one another’s concerns into honest account, and lead with appreciation, inventiveness, and courage. When we do, amazing ways forward unfold for all of us, and our unique and vibrant Island life shines.
