The Power of a Crowd
it's a good time to ponder our place in this big, brutal, beautiful world
My daughter recently told me about being in Boston for a Quest. They needed one person to smile and be in their group photo. Person after person said no no no. Then they saw a group of students walking toward them and thought, these kids are our age and of course they’ll be cool say yes!
But the first person in the group said, No. After that, every other teenager in the group said No.
Until suddenly, one teenage boy stopped and said, “Guys, why are we all saying No? Let’s just do this.”
And suddenly, everyone was like, Yeah, sure. I’ll be in your picture. Wait, let be in it! Move over, I’m not in it. Wait for me. Smile!
In an instant, ONE PERSON changed the entire moment. Suddenly, everyone in the crowd is saying YES.
No judgment on whether it was wrong or right to say yes or no in the first place (you might not want your picture taken with a stranger) - but it’s astonishing to hear about how one person so quickly turned the entire crowd around.
Happy Holy Week. In the Christian tradition, Sunday was Palm Sunday, the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a lowly donkey.
On that day, palm leaves were excitedly waved and laid down in respect.
The crowd shouted “Hallelujah” at His coming (which translates to a prayer - Save Us!)
Just five days later the tide would turn. The crowd would begin chanting “Crucify Him!” Wow.
How do we have this story? Someone wrote it down.
We’re seeing the power of crowds play out in a big way right now.
We are in the crowd right now.
I think it’s a really good time to ponder our role - online, in person, and otherwise, in this big, brutal, beautiful world. What are we lifting up or supporting with our voices - or our silence? Half the time I feel like I’m inwardly screaming Save Us!
Inspiring books about the power of one person (or lion):
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
Solitary: A Biography by Albert Woodfox
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (New Testament)
How do we have these stories? Someone wrote them down.
Here’s a writer plug: Write down your stories! Write down your life. The world feels like it’s on fire - and we are part of the crowd. Write it down.
This week I’m going to be writing, and I’m also going to take time to read the written accounts of Jesus’s last week of life. His is the ultimate “right vs might” archetype and feels incredibly relevant today.
My intention1 is to read and ponder in still, quiet places - because the crowd is so very very loud.
If you celebrate, Happy Easter! Is this a Holy Week for you (or more about bunnies? :)
Send me your reflections. I would love to hear.
Amy 💖
Mailbag
I adore NPR. I even have NPR socks and carry books in an NPR tote bag (TOTAL NERD)! So imagine my delight to see my comment in the online NPR mailbag on April 14 (even if it was because I was sad about NaNoWriMo’s official demise):
Baby Bump Painting of the Week: the cauliflower (Cope is 24 weeks!)
Painting the baby bump “fruits” week by week is helping me pay attention to the miracle of life, and Attention is the beginning of devotion…
The Last Part:
School visits: Looking for a class visit? I love visiting classrooms. Let’s talk creativity, brain and books, resilience and story, the power of reading and writing…be in touch.
Bike Rides: It SNOWED A LOT on Saturday, but yesterday it mostly melted and today we’re going to take our bikes out for the first ride of the year. WHEEEEE.
Seeing: Green sprouts pushing up through dirt and snow. This is so exciting.
Smelling: Manure melting all over the neighborhood
Hearing: Peepers!!!
Tasting: I made enchilada pie for the first time last night and I’ll be making it MORE OFTEN. I deviated from the recipe and used a casserole pan, added black beans, and swapped flour for corn tortillas. My mother used to make this when I was growing up. I was missing her secret ingredient of black olives. My husband gets a lot of mileage from my family’s black olives obsession (which is practically in its own food group).
Very important question: are you a black olive fan?
The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖
Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽
The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!
and oh, I have so many good intentions…
Love black olives…and peepers, the ones in the pond on Applecrest Lane especially ! Happy Easter to all..excited about your soon to be grand baby too!
I love love love this!! ("...and one lion" hehe). Definitely studying these stories thsi week, and maybe it's time for a Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe reread too.