Field Notes Introduction: On Community, Belonging & Starting Again

Field Notes Introduction: On Community, Belonging & Starting Again

Field Notes is a spiritual anthropology anthology that searches for how we (de)/(re)/construct identity, purpose, belonging, ritual, and meaning-making. Through observation of innovative and liberative gathering spaces that are engaging with shifting spiritual and political landscapes, and in conversation with the folks leading those spaces, we peek into how current and emerging generations wrestle with ways to enact new imaginations, new worlds, and new futures. A personal quest at the heart, Field Notes is in part a search for like-hearted collaborators and a way to battle the loneliness of individualization by exploring the multiplicity and abundance of community. By engaging in autoethnographic integration I allow myself to be reshaped and reformed by my encounters, observations, conversations, and the stories, feelings, and questions that ensue… In This Episode * My early experiences of “community” through evangelical Christianity * How seminary, vocation, and faith institutions shaped my identity * The unraveling: divorce, burnout, COVID, and early parenthood * Why I paused, and what I found in five years of solitude * The questions driving Field Notes: belonging, meaning, ritual, and identity * How I’m approaching this project through both personal experience and observation Join the Conversation I’d love to hear your reflections: * How has your relationship to community evolved? * What kinds of spaces have shaped your sense of belonging? * Where are you finding — or creating — new forms of gathering now? Share your thoughts with me on Instagram @_erendira_ [http://www.instagram.com/_erendira_] or meet me over on my website [http://ejestudio.notion.site]. Resources & Mentions * Location: San Diego/Kumeyaay Land * Themes: community, belonging, spirituality, ritual, identity, meaning-making * Frameworks: autoethnography, spiritual anthropology Get full access to The Commons at EJE Studio at ejestudio.substack.com/subscribe [https://ejestudio.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]