I attended the “Heart of Vashon: Telling our Stories” performance at the Blue Heron in January. Scripted from the words of over 150 island writers, the piece was a thoughtful, funny and deeply moving exploration of why we choose to live here. In this increasingly divisive political and social climate, it seems like the “Heart of Vashon” project is much more than a piece of performance art. It is much needed medicine.

As the presidential primary season heats up, a nationwide political divide is growing, picking up more anger and vehemence as it goes. The rhetoric used by all involved worries me. There is so much hate speech, menacing threats and frenzied mob-like behavior that I find myself asking: “Who are these people?” It’s difficult to recognize myself or my neighbors. Are we here on Vashon somehow different?

While re-watching the “Heart of Vashon” performance, it struck me how completely individual the many voices represented were. And yet, there were also clear, common threads that project coordinators, Mary G.L. Shackelford and Shirley Ferris, pulled upon to create the script: the island’s natural beauty; the pace and quality of life here; the strong, sometimes quirky sense of community and neighborliness we all enjoy were repeated.

We on Vashon are no different from our fellow countrymen and countrywomen. The fears that live in them live in us too. I hope when we face our political and social differences and fears, we will lean in toward one another, look and listen for what we hold dear as Vashon Islanders and work across our divides from that bridge. The “Heart of Vashon” project seems like a homeopathic remedy in our island’s medicine cabinet for the tough times we might face together.

— Catherine Johnson