The Antihelp Manifesto

“Provided we can escape from the museums we carry around inside us, provided we can stop selling ourselves tickets to the galleries in our own skulls, we can begin to contemplate an art which re-creates the goal of the sorcerer: changing the structure of reality by the manipulation of living symbols … Art tells gorgeous lies that come true.”
~Hakim Bey

We call ourselves “The Antihelp.”  The exposure of parts of us that want to sweep in and play rescue.  While our insecurities might be assuaged in the moment of felt helpfulness, we recognize such an approach as contradictory to service.  Ultimately, it is rarely relevant and works against creative social opening.

The Antihelp interrupts a cycle of aid that overlooks the reciprocal energetics of world systems and dependency.  We do not participate in global Munchausen Syndrome by proxy, poisoning communities so that we may eventually offer flag-bearing antidotes. We are not blinded by pity and virtue.  We play gratefully in the sweet particularity of culture and pinch one another at any attempt to fix or exploit.  We are interested in healing through inquisition, participatory governance and recognizing opportunities for creativity within conflict.

1.  Intention without direction.  (a.k.a. play).

Change is inevitable.  We stop trying to direct it.  Our efforts are not a series of superficial reactions, but arise within a container of intelligent improvisation.  We are honest about and willing to explore the depths necessary to identify and rebuild obsolete or dysfunctional structures, however, we embrace the process of exploring itself as a primary strengthener of community.

2.  Participation.

We do not play alone.  We need people to participate to build connections.  Change is not relevant unless it’s relevant.
We listen.  With our bodies, our ears, our minds.  We listen.  To each other, to our dreams, to everyone involved.

3.  A sense of humor.

We graciously accept benevolent disparagement.  If not graciously, we expect to be made fun of for reacting to it and/ or throwing tantrums.  The willingness to take the piss out of ourselves, our friends and our projects, dissolves righteousness.  We make absurd demands for laughter, regardless of circumstance.  When we are laughing more than not, all pain is worth it.

4.  Radical Inclusion.

When the uncool, the curmudgeon, the foreign, the weak, the indomitable, or those perceived as threatening ask to be involved, we spread our arms and make vulnerable our tender viscera.  “Bless your heart, you asshole, I love you!” we shout as we embrace participants and onlookers.  Everyone who understands the premises of this community and wants to engage is welcome.  No preconceptions to defend exceptions.  As long as we can tickle each other, it works.  Genetic, cultural, ideological diversity makes for a healthy party.
We love hypocrites.  Because we love making fun of them.
We dissolve the boundaries between helper and helpee…celebrating their obsolescence.
We appreciate radical inclusion as self reflexive: by treating others this way, we get to accept all the parts of ourselves we deny or compartmentalize and judge.  As we open our arms to everyone, risking our well being, we reintegrate ourselves.
We take care of each other.

5.  Wonder

wonder:  a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful.

curiosity:  a strong desire to learn something.

We are honest with our reactions to a space, a circumstance and a people.  We have a multi-disciplinary approach to the perception of beauty.  We encounter circumstances present in the physical and social environment with awe and respect.

Likewise, we are unwaveringly committed to feeling emotional, physical, psychological sensations that arise within our experiences.  We do not deny them, nor do we silence them in others.  We marvel at individual and group reactions.  Anything that arises on the multidimentional spectrum of pain and pleasure, we meet with wonder and curiosity.  We accept the pain.  We follow the pleasure.
We learn with our bodies.
We believe in magic.

6.  Gratitumility.

Even though we have ideas about what is good for us, we meet people with gratitude for any inclusion. We recognize that when we are visitors, strangers, outsiders or aliens, the home-people dictate what kind of help we offer.  We bring the willingness (and appreciation) for being accountants and shit shovelers if that is what is asked, rather than thinking we can offer something better.
We do not identify as “community builders.”  Instead we are lucky visitors who get to participate in the reveal of what is already happening in a space.  We come with playful intention, curiosity, a sense of humor, and a commitment to work hard.
We take our shoes off when entering.
We offer help, but treat it as a privilege when it is accepted and directed.  We come with open minds and creative approaches to problems, but we do not impose.

7.  Respectful Autonomy.

We do what we want to do.  As long as it is harmless, we indulge our passions freely.   As visual artists, we make; as dancers, we move; as chefs, we cook, as musicians, we play.  When people are attracted to what feeds us, we offer them plates.
Creative endeavors such as those expressed in art, music, circus and dance bring opportunities for play, wonder, and a connection with our bodies.  We consider one question of paramount importance in any approach to problem solving and conflict resolution:  “What do we do for fun?”