Making supercells

I was chatting with a friend the other day about her experience tornado-chasing during a recent summer. She described her awe when she first realized this storm they were watching was in fact rotating, a necessary condition for the beginning of a tornado.

I’m working with some folks to organize a regular student-focused contradance in Amherst, and I was just struck by the aptness of supercells as a metaphor for organizing. There are many efforts to create movements, and many result in mundane rainstorms that dump their inch of organizing energy and dissipate. To really create something with a momentum of its own, however, is less common, because it takes a lot of energy and the right conditions. But it’s so energizing to observe these supercells take off, to start spinning on their own. I love that feeling. It takes a lot of work, but give it a try! Go make something spin!