Alumni Spotlight: Lydia Strand

Name and pronouns: Lydia Strand (she/they)

Cohort years: 2013-2015

Where are you living now? I’ve been in Boston since Life Together and live in Jamaica Plain with my partner, Cicia Lee (2014).

What are you doing now?

I’m working part time with Life Together as the Prayer and Wellness Partner – supporting the fellows and their community as they navigate their lives through the program year! I’ve enjoyed re-steeping in some of the core material and commitments of Life Together’s to a life of community, prayer, and action–and learning about how the program and fellows over the last several years have developed and evolved conversations about each of these pillars.

And, I’m also working with a project born out of the “Nuns & Nones” group that is building an interfaith and interspiritual community of people across the country committed to shared study, prayer, action, and celebration. It draws inspiration from relationships with communities of women religious–nuns in monasteries across the US. In some ways, there are similarities to the Life Together program in that it’s an attempt to build an alternative lifestyle in which spiritual practice, justice, and relationship is at the center.

How has Life Together impacted your life?

The greatest impact that Life Together has had on my life is through the relationships and friendships that have shaped the last decade of my life. I’ve been in community with people who have been so creative with seeking lives of spiritual community, of social change, and of self-knowing. From building various informal intentional communities, to pursuing contemplative retreats, and trying out learning the various crafts of community organizing and political action, the people I’ve met through Life Together have helped me keep open the call and dream of a life full of Spirit-led connectedness and transformation. I’ll soon age out of the identity of ‘young adult,’ but the experience that was seeded in Life Together of a life of prayer and action has been nourished and strengthened through these relationships. I’m not done with the experiment!

And, I hope it is a lifelong one. I was introduced to Bede Griffiths, a Benedictine monk and Christian meditation teacher, by Ethel Fraga, a mindfulness and contemplative practice teacher who taught with Life Together about a decade ago. He writes:

“It is a real challenge to find a new way to express our Christian life. It is so easy to get into rules and organization and so to narrow the freedom of the Spirit. The essential thing that Jesus left the church was the Spirit. It is by learning really to trust the Spirit, in our prayer and meditation, and to share this trust with one another that a new language will gradually form.” -- Bede Griffiths, from The New Creation in Christ: Christian Meditation and Community.

I hope to keep deepening in awareness of the always-evolving leading of the Spirit–in and through new and old experiments in living into the transformative and redemptive teachings of Jesus.

Fellow Reflection: Sam Osakue

April is an interesting month for many people, especially those who are Autistic/Neurodivergent. April is Autism Acceptance Month. It was formed by people who are autistic and wanted to help shift the narrative and erase the stigma of being Autistic, according to the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. As to why it is better to say Autism Acceptance Month, instead of Autism Awareness month, the ASAN says, “Acceptance of autism as a natural condition in the human experience is necessary for real dialogue to occur.” Autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that affects how we experience the world around us, and that we think, process, communicate, and socialize differently.  

With Autism Acceptance Month coming up, I wanted to share my experience of being Autistic and being a Life Together fellow. Life Together has been a revolutionary experience for me. It has allowed me to truly discover more about myself and leave my comfort zone. I tend to struggle with social situations because of my autism. Thankfully, I found that my housemates deeply cared for me and that they almost feel like family to me. They have been very open and responsive to me whenever I share my needs, especially those that are related to my disability, and have helped me to find ways to meet those needs.

I also appreciate the resources that I have from Life Together. In our house, we have a lot of fidget toys that are great for when I need to stim (self-stimulatory behavior). I also enjoy the knowledge that I gain from our Prayer Partners and training sessions, which help me and others in my house find ways to connect. One training, in particular, was the Non-Violent Communication (NVC), which helped me understand needs and feelings, which is something I struggle with as an autistic person. I even helped lead a session talking about my experience with Autism and ways I struggle in social situations and it helped a lot with developing a greater relationship with my housemates, including resolving conflicts.

What I want to conclude is that being in Life Together has allowed me to fully open up and truly accept who I am. And so what can you do to help support Autism Acceptance Month? Let’s all be brave and proud of who we are, no matter what life hits at us. If I had a call to action for Autism Acceptance Month, a few things would be, first educate yourself about Autism and encourage others. If you know someone who is Autistic, try to get to know that person better and have a conversation. If you don’t know that, try to find blogs, books, YouTube channels, and social media pages of Autistic creators, the more the better. A few books to read are Neurotribes, We’re Not Broken, and On the Spectrum. A few Autistic YouTubers to watch are Autism from the Inside, The ThoughtSpot, and Mom on the Spectrum. Lastly, help amplify Autistic voices, and if you are on social media, use the #AcutallyAutistic hashtag to help find and spread Autistic voices.