I'd like to announce not one, but TWO new #Discord servers for #Neurodivergent people in the #UpstateNY area! Both have been in the works for a while, but have now actually launched. If they apply to you and you're interested, I would be overjoyed if you joined either or both. If the links have expired by the time you're reading this, feel free to message me.

The first is a general server for #Autistic people with any connections to anywhere in Upstate NY. Open-minded #Allies seeking to listen to autistics and become better allies are also welcome. It's a #SafeSpace for building #Community, making #Friends, chatting, and possibly hanging out together IRL or planning #LocalActivism. This server is pro #Neurodiversity, pro #SelfDX, #Intersectional, and not for parents or service providers (unless you're autistic yourself).
Link: https://discord.gg/vGe73BUp

The second is for the Neurodivergent #Solarpunk #Anarchist Community Space. This is a very long-term project for a brick-and-mortar #Cooperative community space in the #FingerLakes area. The hope is that, when the place can actually be built, it will be a site for #MutualAid, #Permaculture, #Education, #Recreation, and all sorts of other projects of, by, and for the community, with the overarching goal of building and supporting neurodivergent solarpunk anarchist community at a local level. This cooperative also embodies the hope of bringing genuine #Joy, #Connection, and #Inspiration to the world as a whole.
Link: https://discord.gg/A4skx6St

Solar, Hope, Cosy, and Functional

I am excited about how many people have embraced solarpunk! I feel great that people are imagining the means to a better future! I am equally excited by the growth of hopepunk. We need to stay strong in our visions of a bright future.

I am bringing “cosy” and “functional” into my work, because it is easy to think stories must have grand spectacles and nearly insurmountable conflict to be interesting. Many movements for change may have had notable moments, but most of the heavy work was done on a persistent everyday manner.

Rosa Parks deliberately sat in a seat reserved for white people on a bus. She did not come riding a horse up to the steps of Congress, swinging a magic sword over her head. She was not a “chosen one”. She did not carry laser pistols. And yet that moment captured people’s imaginations. Suddenly, we all understand that we can have a part in creating change.

Portraying genuinely good friendships that help sustain us while we do the work for change is not only cosy and functional, but can prove pivotal in making our world one of kindness, security, and a healthy environment. So many new and important things can be said through the arts. They need to come from our experience of what is good, and true, and compassionate.

Keep up your awesome efforts!

(from a Tumblr post)
#solarpunk #hopepunk #cosycore #funkyfi #environment #humanrights

Review:

Mindtouch (The Dreamhealers 1) MCA Hogarth

I am a great fan of storytelling that inspires us to create a healthy and humane future. These sorts of stories can come from many different genres. Right now I am focussing on #solarpunk, #hopepunk, and #cosycore. Also, I am adding my own literary genre #funkyfi. This is fiction to do with functional behaviour in basically functional worlds. Utopia can set unrealistic expectations. Good things and bad things will continue to happen for as long as we exist, but if we all learn how to behave in a functional manner, we are more likely to sort things out.

Mindtouch is about a future where animals and even some humans are the result of genetic engineering. The sapient animals were created to perform dangerous tasks for humans, and at some point in the past left Earth in order to find freedom. As such they chose to colonise distant solar systems. One set of humans, the Eldritch, were developed to live long lives. Despite the long lives, they are not reproducing sufficiently to preserve their species.

The story itself is about the friendship that develops between a “Pelted” person and an Eldritch person when they become roommates at a medical university. Part of this relationship is also shared with a group of child patients who are terminally ill.

We do get a certain amount of futuristic technology, but it’s not clear if this is particularly appropriate technology, ie solar-powered. However, we do have alien peoples who have learned from human mistakes. We also discover the wisdoms of their various cultures, as well as some of their weaknesses. Ultimately, this story is about how these peoples uniquely and well sort out their various emotional challenges through introspection, friendship, and kindness.

Hogarth writes in an intelligent manner with enough twists and turns in the plot to keep things interesting. Mindtouch is not high literature, but it is exceptionally competant, and quite an achievement for someone without the help of a professional editor. We can all use professional editors for long projects like this! I felt uplifted by it, and have ordered the second book in the duology in order to find out what happens to the characters. This has all the charm of a Becky Chambers book. I can recommend it!

Peace and kindness,

Katherine