ROOPHLOCH

ROOPHLOCH 2022

Here we are again, writing from the bus. I'm slowly tapping away as I take the 20 minute journey into Reykjavik to meet a friend for coffee. I've not spent time with her in months, so we have much to catch up on.

I like the bus. I never used it in the US. I lived in 16 states but only twice in a town with any substantial public transit. In neither case did it feel like this, like community. As I sit here there are four children with scooters traveling alone into the city. Perhaps another dozen scattered and talking. I relax into the atmosphere instead of dreading it. I go to see a friend, yo share my community experiences with her and the journey is fitting.

Last night I listened to a talk by Pawel and Star Ngei at my local hackerspace, Hakkavélin, about Solarpunk. It was inspiring, hopeful, and a wake-up to the possibilities in my own actions. It was also the first introduction to the idea for many of my friends. The thrill of seeing their excitement redoubled my own.

The biggest takeaway for me from the night was the view of community as a protagonist in solarpunk ethos. While there are many other important aspects, that stuck with me. How do I participate in that vision and how am I helping improve my communities?

Tonight is the closing night of the bar my hackerspace has been using for our makeshift meetings for the past few months. They will move and reopen in a new location in a month or two, but tonight we say goodbye to this one. They intend to sell all their stock in one night, so discounts will increase dramatically as the night goes on. I hope to join in for a few hours with that community.

Later in the night, around 1am, I have a tabletop RPG game. That community are old friends who have moved around and far away, yet the bonds continue. Our support continues and that is a beautiful thing. These digital or digitally-enabled cultures, like tildes, are no less real and no less important to our lives and the health of the future. They must be cared for.

Alas, thumb typing is quite slow, and my bus is about to arrive. This has been a fun ROOPHLOCH. I hope we see more posts from strange places.

Originally Published 2022-09-23 at:

gemini://tilde.team/~tomasino/journal/20220923-roophloch.gmi

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