My take for Mindy Sue's "On Gathering"

Reading Sue’s article 'On Gathering', I thought about the many ways that people have had to pivot their gatherings' forms because of the pandemic. I believe online gatherings haven’t been particularly innovative, but the upending of the traditional ways of gathering in person has forced people to rethink how to engage others in an online world. One thing that Sue said particular stood out for me, which is that regardless of whether it’s online or offline, a gathering ‘is the tender and thoughtful collection of goods for your kin, and a moment for reunion, for celebration, and for introspection around those goods.’ This is part of the reason why I think it’s important to engage in gatherings with your audience. A gathering is less about the gatherer than it is about the collective of people in that time.

Even so, it's also about recognizing that gatherings can contain varying personalities, experiences, and moods. Therefore, the sense of belonging is important to think about when setting up a gathering and its purpose. These things take work, but I find that they're often rewarding if you try participating. Of course this often becomes more challenging in virtual contexts but if we keep in mind some common gathering purposes like maintaining relationships or learning from each other, then I believe these new mediums can turn into something more bearable. Change is hard, but one thing that usually stays constant is people will keep wanting to share their ideas, their stories, and anything else with the world.