2020 CWP Newsletter Summary
“Fine Personally, but Armageddon Pressing In”
Dear Friends,
I remember in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, reading a facebook post from the writer Rebecca Solnit, where she said she’d been searching for a simple phrase that could sum up a complicated feeling: “I’m fine personally but armageddon is pressing in and I feel it … I’ve been continuously empathically distressed, morally troubled, and full of foreboding and worry. Clearly a lot of us need some kind of compact reference to this common situation.” I think Rebecca Solnit had it right–we need another word in the English language to explain a feeling that many of us have been holding, and was certainly my predominant feeling this past year at the Center for the Working Poor.
In this year’s Center for the Working Poor Newsletter, the Center Update, titled “Surrender and Become Attentive,” describes Paul Engler’s journey in learning to navigate rapidly changing circumstances, resulting in a new project called Community Counseling. You can read about it here.
During the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic, Paul wrote an article titled “Coronavirus is a Historic Trigger Event,” which reached tens of thousands of people, and was republished on dozens of news outlets. Following this publication, Paul was interviewed by a variety of different organizations and publications. This issue of the Newsletter features an excerpt from Paul’s interview with Vice Magazine.
The Newsletter also includes the House Journal, describing our community’s activities this past year. Read about it here.
For all those who have been part of our community this year, we want to express our deep gratitude for your support and friendship.
–Paul Engler
← 2020 Center Update: Surrender and Become Attentive
The Story of Community Counseling →
We will All Become Pilgrims: 2022 Newsletter Summary
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By Paul Engler Whenever I write my newsletter, I am afraid a subtle or not-so-subtle repetition will be noticed—I fear I write the same thing over and over again! Generally the theme has something to do with change, uncertainty, and … Continue reading
Liminality is a Recipe for Navigating Winter: Becoming a Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago
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Whether you’re in a midlife, quarter life, or general life crisis, the proverbial crap hits the wall. You break up with your girlfriend, your community starts falling apart, your movement dies, your organization goes bankrupt, you lose the political campaign. … Continue reading
December 19th, 2022
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2021 Center Update: Ring the Bell of Hope… Again, and Again
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This fall, in one of my first trips to visit my coworkers from the Ayni Institute in Boston, I stopped by New York City to visit one of my closest friends, Eric Stoner. And I was sitting on his couch, … Continue reading
December 15th, 2021
The Center for the Working Poor was founded in 2006, but we didn’t move into our large Victorian house until 2007. Therefore, we have been in the house for 14 years now; and throughout this time, only Paul Engler has … Continue reading
The Story of Community Counseling
December 15th, 2021
Over the last year, we have started beta groups for a new model of mutual aid counseling, called Community Counseling that has engaged dozens in weekly small group counseling practice and training. In November, I went to Boston to lead … Continue reading
2020 Center Update: Surrender and Become Attentive
December 17th, 2020
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die …” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 “Surrender to what is dying, and become attentive to what is emerging.” — … Continue reading