So much truth in this piece! Thanks Hadden for reminding us that , although local action is “far from glamorous and won’t make you famous”, it is where we are called to act. Also find it quite special that you live in a town that Dickens referred to as the "dullest and most stupid spot on the face of the earth". I wonder what experience he must have had there to come up with such a description....
Will save this piece to my library of important essays!
Thanks Ruth, every time I read that quote from Dickens it makes me chuckle (and I dread to think what he would write about the city now!). I am now curious to as to what urged him to write a pretty blunt and extreme statement.
Thanks Eric, you are the second reader to have a connection with Chelmsford - perhaps this small city is more renowned than I thought!
I love that line "if you sit still enough, you can hear the sun move" - I was doing some poetry just now and thought of how the robin sings the dawn into motion every morning - even in the dead of winter. It is as if the sun responds to its song.
Wow, I resonate with this so much! One aspect that strikes me about the relative unimportance of news from from far away is its lack of accuracy. If you know your own area and culture and community really well, you know how inaccurate news about it can be! “Well they didn't mention this other thing,” and “it's actually so much more complicated than that,” and “well that wasn't very charitable” are always going through your mind. And to think how true that must be ablout other places!
When we think too big, we're liable to become distraught at the futility I think. We just can't change the world, but we can definitely change our home. And our homes are in such great need that we have no need to feel bad about focusing on it instead of some great evil far away.
I saved this post, and I think I'll return to it. So many helpful thoughts.
"When we think too big, we're liable to become distraught at the futility I think. We just can't change the world, but we can definitely change our home. And our homes are in such great need that we have no need to feel bad about focusing on it instead of some great evil far away."
Indeed! This reminds me of that quote from Illich that formed the bulk of an essay I recently wrote on care - (paraphrase) you can only care for something if you know it intimately.
Also, I really appreciate the footnote reminding us of environmental leakage. I'm new to that term, but it's such an important thing to keep in mind whatever we call it. I think it's deserving of posts of its own!
That is a great idea Wayne! You are right, it is such an important topic to consider especially when we are confronted with a plethora of sustainability accolades or claims coming from the food industry. When you lookout the whole complex picture it becomes plain that many of these claims do not hold up - but the consumer is by and large ignorant of this.
what a great piece to come across the day before i move from London to Chelmsford! a temporary move as i keep looking for somewhere to stay in London (rental market, UGH) but my partner is from Chelmsford and I've grown kind of fond of it. as an Aberdonian I'm a far stretch from home but have even come to appreciate my hometown more and daydream about going back and starting up some sort of arts initiative for young people there...
I really appreciate this piece of writing. I love Wendell and Kingsnorth and have been reading both quite recently. They're always so sharp.
My suburb isn't too glamorous either but this moves me to see it not as a place where I'll eventually move away from, but as the place I am now. I should know my 15 miles and my 15 miles should know me.
You've given me a kind nudge in the right direction and I'm thankful for it. I'll be passing it on to others.
Thanks Will, this is heartening and encouraging to hear.
Berry and Kingsnorth have both influenced me greatly. Almost every time I read them I come away with some new insight that helps me to navigate the maze of modernity.
This was a good read my friend. Often times our "concern" over global issues can make us feel powerless to affect any real change. This refocusing on the local reminds us (me) that there is a lot of good that can be done on the local level. At the end of the day any systemic national or global issue is a combination of many local issues.
Its funny to read your musings on Chelmsford, because most Americans would view your town as decidedly quaint rather than boring. Living in a terribly homogenous American suburb means that I envy any amount of historic architecture, even Chelmsford's.
Thats a good corrective, Jackson, I am indeed blessed by some old buildings in Chelmsford and too easily forget this! (just to clarify - the picture I chose for this piece is not of Chelmsford - the village in this picture is absolute delightful)
What you say here is key: "At the end of the day any systemic national or global issue is a combination of many local issues." - but is so often neglected by those in power or those trying to effect positive change.
Thanks for this, Hadden. You help us to consider the importance and value of where we are and what we have now. Being thankful, taking small but meaningful steps to improve our locality, and seeking to live a fruitful, "ripe" life where we stand are acts of resistance to the voices that urge us to ever-increasing dissatisfaction or place demands on us that can only crush us in the long term.
Thanks Chris, I am glad you highlighted the "ripe life" part. Ever since reading this in Wendell Berry's essay Quantity Versus Form, I have not stopped thinking abut the "ripe life" and how important this is to guide one's life away from the paths of triviality and vice. For the Christian, the ripe life is the life faithfully run to its completion doing the work our Lord has for us to do - which will mostly be work in our local area and local church. It is an encouraging and liberating thought.
This essay resonates in every part of my being. Yes, yes, yes. These issues are what compelled me to start a Substack and start looking for answers.
My biggest question is: how do I actually get involved locally? I think my naivete is showing here, but I feel totally at a loss on how to take concrete action; perhaps it's part of my generation...of being more digitally connected than physically.
I am young too, and the hinderances to local action are something I feel keenly. I must also say it is one of the reasons I am actually moving away from my local area (as I hinted I might in the essay) as I have found my home city has become almost impossible to form local community in (and house prices are so expensive). We are moving to a rural area where the community is thicker and beauty more apparent.
But, as to some ideas, I think joining local clubs and societies is one thing (especially those which are multi-generational in make up) And then if you are part of a church trying to do events for the community is another option. Our church does two events each month: sit-and-knit and poetry in the pub in a local pub as a regular community presence. Other churches have done litter picks, organised community fun days etc with good success.
But, fostering good community is long and hard work and not without pain, frustration, and disappointment. This is a message I need to preach to myself.
Amen to that. I confess being jealous of your move to a more rural area — I'm working towards that, but can't quite make the leap yet for a number of reasons. For now, I must do the hard work you speak of, probably...getting more involved in my church. I've failed on that front, to be sure.
When I look back at my life, I think I have always wanted, consciously or sub consciously, to live my life immersed in local community. But it took a lot of exploring, including time living in places far from my birthplace, to be able to begin to understand how to do that. It wasn’t something I was taught. I would venture this is true of many people born in the last 40-50 years. We learned, directly or indirectly, that we create our identities through consumption, not through participation in local community.
I also continue to come to terms with the fact that my forebears were fleeing fractured communities (many layers of dislocation) and they did not, most likely could not, (not having experienced it themselves) pass on to me the kind of continuous tradition and coherent identity I have always wanted at some level. I agree with you that the local is the correct place to aim one’s focus most of the time: but I personally, and I am sure many other millions of people, are in their current home because of global forces beyond their control. So understanding who you are now may require also learning a bit about the global.
"but I personally, and I am sure many other millions of people, are in their current home because of global forces beyond their control. So understanding who you are now may require also learning a bit about the global."
- Totally agree Síochána. Thank you for this wise comment. The extraordinary numbers of refugees in the 20th-21st Century are testimony to this phenomena. Not all of the rootless are rootless by choice; many have been uprooted by force, others my economic necessity. They are the very people we need to ensure are welcomed and helped to become established in our communities.
And you are right - I think for almost all of us, understanding something of the global is essential in understanding who we are and what our place is.
I discovered your writing today. Beautiful and thought provoking. My mother's family all hail from Chelmsford and Galleywood. I spent many happy hours on Wood Farm and Galleywood Common as a child, and my uncle has a long-standing voluntary role at Chelmsford Cathedral. Looking forward to discovering more of your work.
Excellent piece. Why indeed are we exhorted to change the world, when there is so much to be done in our local areas? It's sad to see the decline of local newspapers (though there are some excellent hyperlocal online media resources)
So much truth in this piece! Thanks Hadden for reminding us that , although local action is “far from glamorous and won’t make you famous”, it is where we are called to act. Also find it quite special that you live in a town that Dickens referred to as the "dullest and most stupid spot on the face of the earth". I wonder what experience he must have had there to come up with such a description....
Will save this piece to my library of important essays!
Thanks Ruth, every time I read that quote from Dickens it makes me chuckle (and I dread to think what he would write about the city now!). I am now curious to as to what urged him to write a pretty blunt and extreme statement.
Lovely piece Hadden
My brother lived for a short time in Chelmsford, it wasn’t a life highlight but of course why should it be as ‘he wasn’t from round these parts’
Slight tangent (?) but the title evoked in me the remembrance of a phrase recently read “if you sit still enough, you can hear the sun move”
Or, if you truly are where you are, you’ve come to your senses, which is the doorway to salvation (Lk 15 thereabouts :) )
Thanks Eric, you are the second reader to have a connection with Chelmsford - perhaps this small city is more renowned than I thought!
I love that line "if you sit still enough, you can hear the sun move" - I was doing some poetry just now and thought of how the robin sings the dawn into motion every morning - even in the dead of winter. It is as if the sun responds to its song.
Where’s the ‘Love’ button?!! :)
Creation is a responsive dance
Wow, I resonate with this so much! One aspect that strikes me about the relative unimportance of news from from far away is its lack of accuracy. If you know your own area and culture and community really well, you know how inaccurate news about it can be! “Well they didn't mention this other thing,” and “it's actually so much more complicated than that,” and “well that wasn't very charitable” are always going through your mind. And to think how true that must be ablout other places!
When we think too big, we're liable to become distraught at the futility I think. We just can't change the world, but we can definitely change our home. And our homes are in such great need that we have no need to feel bad about focusing on it instead of some great evil far away.
I saved this post, and I think I'll return to it. So many helpful thoughts.
"When we think too big, we're liable to become distraught at the futility I think. We just can't change the world, but we can definitely change our home. And our homes are in such great need that we have no need to feel bad about focusing on it instead of some great evil far away."
Indeed! This reminds me of that quote from Illich that formed the bulk of an essay I recently wrote on care - (paraphrase) you can only care for something if you know it intimately.
That's probably my other favorite piece of yours. I really need to read some Illich.
Also, I really appreciate the footnote reminding us of environmental leakage. I'm new to that term, but it's such an important thing to keep in mind whatever we call it. I think it's deserving of posts of its own!
That is a great idea Wayne! You are right, it is such an important topic to consider especially when we are confronted with a plethora of sustainability accolades or claims coming from the food industry. When you lookout the whole complex picture it becomes plain that many of these claims do not hold up - but the consumer is by and large ignorant of this.
what a great piece to come across the day before i move from London to Chelmsford! a temporary move as i keep looking for somewhere to stay in London (rental market, UGH) but my partner is from Chelmsford and I've grown kind of fond of it. as an Aberdonian I'm a far stretch from home but have even come to appreciate my hometown more and daydream about going back and starting up some sort of arts initiative for young people there...
I really appreciate this piece of writing. I love Wendell and Kingsnorth and have been reading both quite recently. They're always so sharp.
My suburb isn't too glamorous either but this moves me to see it not as a place where I'll eventually move away from, but as the place I am now. I should know my 15 miles and my 15 miles should know me.
You've given me a kind nudge in the right direction and I'm thankful for it. I'll be passing it on to others.
All the best,
Will
Thanks Will, this is heartening and encouraging to hear.
Berry and Kingsnorth have both influenced me greatly. Almost every time I read them I come away with some new insight that helps me to navigate the maze of modernity.
This was a good read my friend. Often times our "concern" over global issues can make us feel powerless to affect any real change. This refocusing on the local reminds us (me) that there is a lot of good that can be done on the local level. At the end of the day any systemic national or global issue is a combination of many local issues.
Its funny to read your musings on Chelmsford, because most Americans would view your town as decidedly quaint rather than boring. Living in a terribly homogenous American suburb means that I envy any amount of historic architecture, even Chelmsford's.
Thats a good corrective, Jackson, I am indeed blessed by some old buildings in Chelmsford and too easily forget this! (just to clarify - the picture I chose for this piece is not of Chelmsford - the village in this picture is absolute delightful)
What you say here is key: "At the end of the day any systemic national or global issue is a combination of many local issues." - but is so often neglected by those in power or those trying to effect positive change.
Thanks for this, Hadden. You help us to consider the importance and value of where we are and what we have now. Being thankful, taking small but meaningful steps to improve our locality, and seeking to live a fruitful, "ripe" life where we stand are acts of resistance to the voices that urge us to ever-increasing dissatisfaction or place demands on us that can only crush us in the long term.
Thanks Chris, I am glad you highlighted the "ripe life" part. Ever since reading this in Wendell Berry's essay Quantity Versus Form, I have not stopped thinking abut the "ripe life" and how important this is to guide one's life away from the paths of triviality and vice. For the Christian, the ripe life is the life faithfully run to its completion doing the work our Lord has for us to do - which will mostly be work in our local area and local church. It is an encouraging and liberating thought.
This essay resonates in every part of my being. Yes, yes, yes. These issues are what compelled me to start a Substack and start looking for answers.
My biggest question is: how do I actually get involved locally? I think my naivete is showing here, but I feel totally at a loss on how to take concrete action; perhaps it's part of my generation...of being more digitally connected than physically.
I am young too, and the hinderances to local action are something I feel keenly. I must also say it is one of the reasons I am actually moving away from my local area (as I hinted I might in the essay) as I have found my home city has become almost impossible to form local community in (and house prices are so expensive). We are moving to a rural area where the community is thicker and beauty more apparent.
But, as to some ideas, I think joining local clubs and societies is one thing (especially those which are multi-generational in make up) And then if you are part of a church trying to do events for the community is another option. Our church does two events each month: sit-and-knit and poetry in the pub in a local pub as a regular community presence. Other churches have done litter picks, organised community fun days etc with good success.
But, fostering good community is long and hard work and not without pain, frustration, and disappointment. This is a message I need to preach to myself.
Amen to that. I confess being jealous of your move to a more rural area — I'm working towards that, but can't quite make the leap yet for a number of reasons. For now, I must do the hard work you speak of, probably...getting more involved in my church. I've failed on that front, to be sure.
You were recommended to us by John Lovie, Hadden. I'm so glad he did. This is a beautiful post which adds beautifully to our own discourse.
My pleasure, Safar, I am very glad you found this helpful
Forgot who said but I've heard the quote: "Where ever you go, there you are." Thanks for the read.
Beautiful moments ❤️
When I look back at my life, I think I have always wanted, consciously or sub consciously, to live my life immersed in local community. But it took a lot of exploring, including time living in places far from my birthplace, to be able to begin to understand how to do that. It wasn’t something I was taught. I would venture this is true of many people born in the last 40-50 years. We learned, directly or indirectly, that we create our identities through consumption, not through participation in local community.
I also continue to come to terms with the fact that my forebears were fleeing fractured communities (many layers of dislocation) and they did not, most likely could not, (not having experienced it themselves) pass on to me the kind of continuous tradition and coherent identity I have always wanted at some level. I agree with you that the local is the correct place to aim one’s focus most of the time: but I personally, and I am sure many other millions of people, are in their current home because of global forces beyond their control. So understanding who you are now may require also learning a bit about the global.
"but I personally, and I am sure many other millions of people, are in their current home because of global forces beyond their control. So understanding who you are now may require also learning a bit about the global."
- Totally agree Síochána. Thank you for this wise comment. The extraordinary numbers of refugees in the 20th-21st Century are testimony to this phenomena. Not all of the rootless are rootless by choice; many have been uprooted by force, others my economic necessity. They are the very people we need to ensure are welcomed and helped to become established in our communities.
And you are right - I think for almost all of us, understanding something of the global is essential in understanding who we are and what our place is.
Great post. I feel the same about my hometown of Colchester no matter how many people slam it. (Hi neighbour!)
Indeed, and you have a castle!
I discovered your writing today. Beautiful and thought provoking. My mother's family all hail from Chelmsford and Galleywood. I spent many happy hours on Wood Farm and Galleywood Common as a child, and my uncle has a long-standing voluntary role at Chelmsford Cathedral. Looking forward to discovering more of your work.
Thanks Nicola,
I have spent many a happy hour on Galleywood Common too. A very special place.
Excellent piece. Why indeed are we exhorted to change the world, when there is so much to be done in our local areas? It's sad to see the decline of local newspapers (though there are some excellent hyperlocal online media resources)
From a Maldonian to a Chelmsfordian: really enjoyed this, Hadden, but I'd say Chelmsford Cathedral is impressive enough for its size! All the best.
Ha! You are right, I really should pay another visit to the cathedral to explore its hidden gems.
And I have many great memories from Maldon