Yesterday I went on a free walking tour of Dublin and it was gloriously radical. I highly recommend their tours – check them out at http://www.dublinfreewalkingtour.ie/ After giving us a brief overview of the day, of the city the tour guide asked us to turn to someone we did not know, shake their hand, tell them our story and welcome them to Dublin. He said he begins his tours this way because

1. Dublin is friendly and as tourists, we should be too
2. You get more our of a tour when you feel comfortable talking and asking questions.
3. Once you shake hands, it means you have a drinking buddy

While I did not come for a drinking buddy, I found this to be one of the most beautiful moments of the day – I met a fellow North American dude from Montreal who was there with a bunch of his friends. It was not just this conversation that was so beautiful, it was the shift in the group dynamic from being a consumption of Dublin to became an opportunity to engage in the core practice of being human – that is connection.

I think that it is so important to make a conscious switch to that alternate moral universe, some call it mindfulness, some call it the womanist mind, others talk about activating the parasympathetic nervous system. What I know is that as a person who studies social ethics and community psychology who happily inhabits a body that is often perceived as problematic, I was particularly pleased to be able to be “seen” for who I am beyond the normative gaze.

Our tour guide was also fiercely protective of Dublin culture, aware of the power of gentrification on community ties and was deeply aware of the history of Dublin from the perspective of those who did not write the history books. The tour was also free (they only take tips) because they are committed to making Dublin’s alternative history available to everyone regardless of their budget.

Since I am trained as a what some might call a community psychologist and I care deeply about the relationship between those who believe they “produce knowledge” in the academy and the larger community (be it policymakers, practitioners or community members) I was absolutely ecstatic to see how this guide wove in historical and social analysis to provide people with a more holistic perspective of Dublin.

So, shout out to David, Peter and the other  space-makers who know the power of a handshake and a smile to shift our thinking and see the world and people around us anew!