The cultivation of joy, celebration, and ecstatic collective experience as essential organizing practice, not luxuries or distractions from serious work.
Rabia and her spiritual circle engaged in devoted remembrance—dhikr—practices that generated ecstatic states of belonging and connection. Ecstatic Belonging in organizing means deliberately creating space for joy, celebration, music, dancing, ritual, and collective effervescence. These are not breaks from serious work; they are essential to it. Celebrations of victories, ritual marking of loss, music at gatherings, and shared meals create embodied experiences of belonging that sustain commitment. Oppressive systems isolate people and numb joy; organizing work that includes ecstatic dimension directly counters this through reconnection to pleasure, beauty, and collective happiness. Communities that celebrate together, sing together, and move together develop stronger bonds than those only meeting to discuss issues. This practice particularly reaches people exhausted by trauma and oppression by offering tangible experience of liberated futures. Ecstatic Belonging prevents organizing from becoming grim obligation.
Peri can explain this concept, give practical examples, help you decide whether it applies to your situation, or recommend a journey if appropriate.
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