Tales From Burkeland: Tale Two
“It is through community that we can find justice.”
When I wrote that line at the end of my publication announcement for Circe last month, I sat back in my chair, staring at those words as they echoed through my thoughts into my bones — a feeling I’ve learned is my subconscious telling me I’ve hit truth.
But how is that a truth? We all know stories of lone vigilantes meting out justice on their own. Why would we need community to find it? My answer: While solo justice may eliminate one dastardly villain, the systems and conditions that created the villain persist. To change those — to create a society that doesn’t produce villains — you need community. You need relationships.
Relationships are the building blocks of our communities. When we make healthy connections with others, we thrive individually and collectively. That’s the power of relationships.
No where is this illustrated more perfectly than in the indigenous American teachings on the Three Sisters.
Both a companion planting method and a part of the culture and cosmology of several Native American tribes, the teachings revolve around three crops — corn, squash, and pole beans — that grow better together than apart. Scientifically, the corn provides a scaffolding on which the beans grow, the beans enrich the soil with nitrogen so the corn and squash thrive, and the squash covers the ground to lock in moisture and tamp down weeds. Cosmologically, the plants are gifts to humans and protected by the Three Sisters spirits, or the Diohe’ko in the Seneca language, which translates to “our sustainers” or “those who support us.” In return for their support, humans grow and tend the crops.
It’s a powerful lesson on the interconnectedness of all.
The Three Sisters stories teach us that to thrive, we need communities built to support their citizens and personal relationships that nurture our growth. In turn, we must be active in building such communities and nurturing those around us.
I’ve lived the truth of these teachings in my author journey. While I’ve always written fiction, I didn’t begin to thrive in the field until I found the Apex-Writers Group and Wulf Moon’s Wulf Pack Writers Group. In those communities I found the friends and teachers I needed to learn the skills that would make my writing soil fertile. Joining the Midwest Writers Guild of Evansville offered a pathway to publication for my first short story. Like the beans in the Three Sisters stories, I climbed the corn stalks of writers who came before me. Everyone in those groups does the work of the squash, tamping down weeds and maintaining the ideal conditions within our communities to give us all success. As Wulf Moon says, “A rising tide lifts all ships.”
Could I have found success going solo? Some would say yes, but I disagree. At some point along the writing journey — as with any journey toward a goal — you need someone else to see your work, believe in it and in you, and help you along the path to success. No one exists in a vacuum. We all depend on our relationships.
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In this month’s newsletter:
Tales from Burkeland Tale Two: The Power of Relationships
From the Drafts: 2025 Writing Goals
Remember You Shine: Speak Love to Yourself
Myths and Magic: Love Spells and Potions
From My Shelf: Faeries Don’t Forgive by T.F. Burke