Reflections on the Power of Proximity
Now that we’ve gone through a collective reckoning and awakening what will happen to these new ideas as our cities fully reopen again?
HONORING OUR PROGRESS
In this moment right now I have never felt more encouraged and comfortable to speak up as a woman, as an Asian American, and as a biracial person. The cultural conversations that were surfaced to the mainstream last year have had an affect, and one that I hope only strengthens as our lives continue to reopen. As heartbreaking as 2020 was, and as painful as the previous 4 years was for many, I can say that it does feel like we are entering a new season where we are allowing ourselves to once again feel optomisitic.
Of course there is still so much work to be done and collective grief to move through, but there is also progress to be celebrated that some have been fighting for for decades. Seeing systemic racism, xenophobia, police brutality, white supremacy, the harmful implications of stereotypes and fetishes, all called out in broad daylight by masses of people over and over again in the last year has left me feeling hopeful for what comes next.
And while of course it will be what we actually DO with these ideas and statements that will determine the impact they have, because only intellectualizing and reposting things is never enough — I want to take a moment to reflect on how remarkable it is that this type of progress took place during the year that it did, because we weren’t allowed to be physically close to each other and typically that is how change occurs.
THE POWER OF PROXIMITY
Throughout history proximity to one another was how progress was achieved. The process of urbanization and physical closeness to other people is what enabled human collaboration to birth modern life as we know it.
The exchanging of ideas person to person in Athens is what gave us Western philosophy, drama and history. The cities on the Silk Road and the ports on the Pearl River are what allowed the “the great dance of civilizations” in which knowledge moved from East to West and back again.
And despite the internet being able to connect us to anywhere now, even the tech industries recognize the power of proximity by gathering in places like, Silicon Valley and Bangalore. These types of groupings are not only natural in the way that they provide people with community and a sense of belonging, but this is how ideas are able to come together and turn into those brilliant moments of human creativity that have the power to transform history.
We can look back to just last November here in the U.S. to see another example, as the individuals who were asking for progress (the blue areas) were clustered in urban areas, and those who wanted to return to a time of “traditional” American values (the red areas) resided in rural areas. This shows us the direct correlation that population density, and nearness to others can have with progress.
OUR COLLECTIVE JOURNEY TOWARD PROGRESS
So our cities are perhaps our greatest asset when it comes to our collective journey toward progress, and as Amanda Gorman reminded us at the inaguration at the beginning of this year, our nation isn’t broken it’s just unfinished. But in 2020 our cities were hurting. They were not able to be the vibrant, buzzing, beacons of diversity that many of us moved to them for. And the proximity that they offer was dangerous to our health, so many people that could, left. And yet progress was still made, because we leaned into our new spaces of connection and proximity like TikTok and Club House, where we were still able to exchange our ideas and build off of each others creativity.
Now, I am not someone who believes that our digital lives and social media can replace our real life connections. I do believe that empires are built on small talk and that human touch and real life interaction is critical to our happiness. But I am blown away by how those digital spaces were able to push through some progressive ideals that many had been fighting for for years.
HOPEFUL FOR WHAT’S NEXT
So I sit here entering this Spring season of reopenings in LA allowing myself to feel hopeful I am very hopeful for what comes next. When our beloved cities are able to be their beautiful, vibrant selves again. When more and more people get vaccinated and our fear of being close to others subsides — because we are still in a very powerful moment of progress. There is a new heightened sense of social, racial and cultural awareness that is undeniable. Things that were okay pre-2020 will never be acceptable again.
It all has me wondering just what will be possible for us and our collective future when both these worlds of proximity, the urban and the digital, will be able to flourish once again? What will happen when these ideas from 2020 are put into action irl? And what kind of historic transformation will these creative collaborations give rise to when we can exchange ideas person to person again? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I do know that I’m excited to continue to be a part of this moment of transformation.
