"We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike": A reflection on a Citizens Somerset Weaving Trust event
"We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike": A reflection on a Citizens Somerset Weaving Trust event
By Martin Wall , West Somerset Quakers
During Quaker Week 2024, the Taunton Meeting reached out to the town’s local community:
‘We have long felt that we would like to get to know our neighbours better and finally we have decided to do something about it!
In brief to invite you to an evening of sharing our stories, our hopes, our similarities and our differences.’
On 15 May 2025, after several months of negotiation and pestering, we, West Somerset Quakers, assembled 30 people representing various faith denominations, action groups, health workers, and charities to a Weaving Trust event (with support from our members at Citizens Somerset).
Essentially two concentric circles inner facing out, outer facing in. Each pair has a six-minute conversation on an allotted subject then the outer ring moves to the next person on the right for the next conversation. Eight conversations on subjects ranging from ‘tell me the story of your favourite cake’ to ‘what are your hopes and fears for your community.’
As people arrived with a certain anxiety, to a new place, with new people, they were met with warm introductions and cake. Our biggest challenge of the night, corralling everyone into their allotted places. The next part involved introducing the community organising concepts of listening and sharing stories, somewhat redundant as it was already happening unbidden around us!
We are social animals and to thrive, we need to share our stories across our community. The power of this event was the universality of this truth; the common threads of our lives, weaving us together across sameness and difference. This addresses the crisis of loneliness and isolation in society, to quote data from the US (2) (which must inform the trend in the UK ): 15-24 year olds now spend 70 per cent less time in person with friends than people of the same age did in 2003. This is reflected in a slightly lower, but still shocking, rate across the age range in the UK.
We are each other’s safety, and as a species we are very vulnerable alone. We are designed for interdependence, and this trend of physical isolation leaves us exposed to extremism of all descriptions.
In the group's reflections at the end of the evening, common themes were: 'connected, engaged, inspired...’
My thoughts on my journey home centred on our testimony to equality. In most of the faith traditions, in mythology and fairy tales, the welcoming of people in our community is deemed a mutually enriching experience. The people I listened to and shared with, reflected a common desire for peace, safety, and future happiness, the means to achieve them were particular, our resources are not evenly applied. Perhaps we need to link equality with equity, and recognise that different people need different things to access the same outcomes.
- "We are more alike, my friends than we are unalike", Maya Angelou. "Human Family." Family Friend Poems
- Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community 2023
We are Citizens Somerset, a Citizens UK Chapter.
Together, we organise to overcome injustice and win change on the things that you and your local communities care about most across our County. Our alliance is formed of ten members from schools, churches and community groups.