I Swim in it as in a Sea

“I have perceiv’d that to be with those I like is enough,
To stop in company with the rest at evening is enough,
To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh is enough,
To pass among them or touch any one, or rest my arm ever so lightly round his or her neck for a moment, what is this then?
I do not ask any more delight, I swim in it as in a sea.”

— Walt Whitman, 1855
From “I Sing the Body Electric”

 

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Today’s Invitation

If you find an appropriate situation, establish a connection with someone through touch today (a pat on the shoulder, a hug, a high-five).

If the situation doesn’t arise, take a few minutes to “swim” in community another way: taking part in an online discussion, looking at photos of yourself at a gathering, or reading the messages in your old yearbooks.

Query of the Week

Who belongs in Quaker community?

How does the intentional lack of a creed make belonging easier? Harder?

Author

  • Maeve Sutherland

    Maeve Sutherland is a communications professional who never recovered from her wonderful childhood at a Quaker elementary school. She has spent her career helping nonprofits share their stories, from schools and universities, to museums, to radio stations. As a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, Maeve spent a year living in “Peaceable Kingdoms,” pacifist intentional communities around the world, where she learned that everyone has a role to play in shaping a better world. She worked as a freelance social media manager before joining Thee Quaker Project. After returning to Quakerism as a young adult, Maeve now attends Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting in Philadelphia.

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