Divided. Disconnected. Lonely. I just read an American Psychological Association poll report that highlighted what we already knew: things are rough.
In its recent survey, the APA found that nearly 7 in 10 adults say they don’t receive the emotional support they need. Half of adults feel isolated. And 75% of adults are more stressed about the country’s future than they used to be.
And that got me thinking about scaffolding.
Um, yes, scaffolding; the metal pipes, the wooden planks. A ubiquitous feature of the urban landscape.
A recent client commissioned Vans-a-go-go. It’s a big mobile. And it needed to be hung high up. Rather than try to go it alone, she enlisted the help of family and friends – and scaffolding – to get the mobile hung. It was beautiful to see the support, the smiles.
When she sent me photos, it got me thinking about how we navigate our own chaotic, heavy seasons. We live in a world that romanticizes total self-reliance. And yet look at those APA stats above. Or, more accurately, look at how you often feel.
When asked what gives their lives meaning, the APA poll respondents overwhelming indicated family, friends, partners, and pets top the list.
Imagine what it would feel like to let those people (and pets) build scaffolding around you when you need it most. To hold you up, to support, to encourage, to cheer on, to be a source of strength or a quiet moment on which to lean.
And then picture what it would be like to live a life where your values offer that same kind of support: community, creativity, love, compassion – whatever you value most standing you up and helping others do the same.
To me, it feels like that’s the kind of a moment we’re in right now, today: voting our values in order to erect human scaffolding that allows us to repair our freedom, our rights, our democracy, our bodily autonomy, and our connection with one another.
Scaffolding is always built from the ground up. And while that first layer isn’t all that impressive, it lays the foundation for all that rises above. Today, we re-cement that first layer.
If you haven’t already, please go vote today. Vote for scaffolding. Vote for good. Vote for change.
