The Moment of Lift by by Julie Blase

In every community, there is a latent power that, when activated, can become a phenomenal force for good. All over the world, various groups are discovering and unlocking this power for the benefit of the communities they serve. This power can turn a group of strangers into a tribe with all its inherent potential for good.

The synergy created is even more powerful when those who gather are people who were previously isolated from one another. This is true for millions of retirees worldwide, but even here, there is a groundswell of hope as they are beginning to connect and find solutions to the problems they share.

Melinda Gates*, who has been gathering groups of women, writes of her experience in her book, The Moment of Lift. Her father worked for NASA, and her early experiences included several shuttle launches where she learned that the moment of lift, was precisely when the uplifting forces, became greater than those holding the subject down. 

So she started bringing disenfranchised women together and discovered that just bringing them into proximity with each other, set off a domino effect that impacted them in positive ways. In fact, this is what can happen when people anywhere, gather in their communities for the purpose of connection.

According to her research, Gates found that even more powerful than the purpose of the gathering, was the fact that they gathered, and wherever they have initiated such groups, the communities benefitted. The force that was created provided an unexpected lift, and indirectly provided answers to some of the presenting issues within that community.

It is the same everywhere. People were made for relationship, for friendship and community. As we gather around our community, we can provide lift to one another. We can make our communities even more powerful when we’re connected.

*GATES, M. E. L. I. N. D. A. (2020). Moment Of Lift: how empowering women changes the world. S.l.: FLATIRON BOOKS.