We Need Each Other

Becca Stevens is an Episcopal priest in Nashville, TN. In 2000 she was awarded Nashvillian of the Year by the Nashville Scene, for her work with Magdalene, a ministry serving "women with a criminal history of drug abuse and prostitution." Stevens spoke at a ceremony in honor of this award and she began by saying, "I love that God made us to need each other."

I don't remember much else of Stevens talk. I imagine it was gracious and passionate. What I took away from it was the zen sound bite: We need each other.

I come back to this phrase time and again. We also need food, water, shelter, sleep, etc., but the body shuts down if we withhold those things from ourselves. There is a similar shutting down when we try to go it alone and to take on the world by ourselves, but it's not as easily recognized.

I want this to be a tenet of my art practice. I would also like to see it embodied in my work, but I think it more important (now) to bear it in mind as I research and make decisions towards finished work.

So what does it mean that we need each other? Beyond our atavistic need to band together for hunting and gathering, how do humans need each other? What do we do with that need? How is it expressed in our actions, culture, and work? Do online communities speak to this need? Do universities and schools consider it? How can we cultivate a literal and poetic sense of needing each other?