What’s a story that you’ve been gripped by recently?

[petra]

Whether it's something that you heard about that really happened or a piece of fiction, what's spoken to you lately?

Comments

[gibbles]

A bit of a vague answer, but I read a book a few months (/an eternity) back called A Paradise Built In Hell, that is basically a case study of a few different disasters that have happened since the early 20th century and how communities react to them. And the thesis of the book is just that like... when put under pressure, the most common reaction (by a huge margin!) is for people to help other people, and to go to great lengths to do so. There was a particularly striking argument where the author points out that helping becomes a need...when in despair, people will go out and actively try to help other people in order to ease their own despair. It's a wonderful circle of human connection when allowed to flourish.

So especially these days, during this slow and strange disaster, it's nice to have those stories in my head. As often as we do see terrible people highlighted in the news, it's important to look around our immediate areas and, as Mr. Rogers said, look for the helpers. And it's wonderful to have these stories to help me shush the voices that insist a positive view of humanity is just a naive fairy tale.

[petra]

That sounds like a great book to have on your mind these days. Thanks for the recommendation!