River Roots Redevelopment: Revolution and Tai Chi

Selina Pedi-Smith,

Founder, Pellere Foundation

Happy July!

As I’m writing this, we’re all getting ready to celebrate the 250th birthday of our nation. As you’re reading this, the fireworks will be over, and many of us will be wondering what to do with all those leftover hot dogs.

In the lead-up to the big day, I decided to watch a documentary on Thomas Jefferson, and I was reminded of something I’d completely forgotten: This isn’t actually the 250th anniversary of the United States as we know it.

It’s the 250th anniversary of a declaration. An idea. A concept of a plan. On July 4, 1776, a group of people signed a document announcing that they intended to become an independent nation. Then they spent the next eight years fighting to make that idea a reality.

Eight years.

Somehow I’d never really thought about it that way before.

So maybe I’m weird, but I think we should throw an even bigger party in eight years. After all, that’s when the impossible idea actually became reality. It wasn’t easy. It almost didn’t happen. The founders argued with each other relentlessly about what this new country should look like, what it should stand for, and how it should govern itself. Different factions emerged almost immediately, each convinced the others threatened everything they had fought to build.

And yet, here we are. For all our disagreements, the Great American Experiment is still going 242 years later. Here’s hoping it keeps going for another 242.

So…a thought: What if we were to consider this anniversary not as a single birthday party, but as the beginning of an eight-year celebration? Eight years of honoring, in our own imperfect ways, the ideals that gave birth to this experiment. A little more liberty. A little more personal responsibility. A little more grace and generosity of thought.

For my tiny part in that experiment, I’m finally - and I mean it this time! - going to learn Tai Chi.

I know. I know. That sounds like it has nothing at all to do with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But I really feel like it’s right on point for this phase of my life. Slowing down. Paying attention. Listening to my body. Quieting my mind. Practicing not reacting to every little thing life throws my way.

It just feels like it’s a good way to honor the idea of self-determination. A way to notice the difference between reacting and responding. A way to stay connected…to myself, and to the world around me. 

So here’s the plan.

Every Saturday morning, I’ll be out on the paddock overlooking our new mud pit... er... pond... attempting to learn Tai Chi. If it’s pouring rain, I’ll retreat to the front porch. If you’d like to join me, let me know. Just give me a holler at selina@pellere.org

If we’re going to spend the next eight years celebrating the American experiment, we might as well spend the next eight years living it.

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Rachel Brosnahan is the Community Engagement Coordinator for River Roots Redevelopment. Want to help us rethink what redevelopment can look like—together? Follow the conversation and share your thoughts with us on Facebook and LinkedIn, or reach out directly to rachel@riverrootsredevelopment.org. We’d love to hear from you!