The Heat Strikes' practice of **"Swinging for the Fences"** built directly on their use of baseball diamonds as hubs for collective action, creating a cyclical process of turning despair into action. This concept was rooted in the belief that recognizing and addressing shared challenges within a community could catalyze meaningful, localized responses to systemic problems. ### Turning Messages into Actions **"Swinging for the Fences"** referred to a collaborative practice in which participants took the external-facing messages of grief, hope, and barriers posted on the fences of their mutual aid hubs and translated them into actionable proposals. The process worked as follows: 1. **Identifying Themes**: Volunteers or participants would review the notes and messages posted on the **outside** of the fences. These messages reflected the collective climate trauma, fears, challenges, and hopes for of the community, serving as a diagnostic tool to assess pressing local concerns. 2. **Bringing Them Inside**: Common themes and recurring issues were distilled and "brought inside the arena," where participants gathered. The **inside-facing fences**, already displaying active projects and working group updates, became the space for translating these insights into practical actions. 3. **Proposing Actions**: Participants collectively brainstormed or proposed specific local interventions to address the identified challenges. These proposals could range from organizing workshops, establishing new mutual aid structures, creating regenerative agricultural projects, or hosting teach-ins on disaster preparedness. ### From Trauma to Transformation This cyclical practice exemplified the Heat Strikes' emphasis on prefigurative action, using **climate trauma** as a starting point for growth rather than a source of despair. By visualizing and collectively acknowledging the struggles and desires of the community, "Swinging for the Fences" offered a clear pathway for: - **Emotional processing**: Providing a space to express and witness shared grief, fear, and hope. - **Collective empowerment**: Demonstrating that community-led actions could address these challenges directly. - **Localized resilience**: Ensuring that the proposed solutions were grounded in the specific needs and capacities of each community. ### A Practice of Radical Hope The term "Swinging for the Fences" also held symbolic weight. While baseball’s phrase refers to taking bold risks in hopes of a home run, the Heat Strikes reimagined it as a practice of radical hope: the idea that even ambitious or imperfect actions could create ripples of positive change. This mindset aligned with their commitment to **creating a world that works for 100% of humanity**, seeing every local action as a step toward broader transformation. ### Building on Shared Struggles The cyclical nature of the practice—identifying barriers, translating them into actions, and closing the loop by turning waste into soil and energy—emphasized **regeneration** at every level. It illustrated a core principle of the Heat Strikes: that community resilience grows not by ignoring hardship but by confronting it head-on and harnessing it as a source of collective strength. In doing so, "Swinging for the Fences" ensured that the movement remained rooted in the lived experiences and immediate needs of participants while contributing to long-term structural change. This methodology highlighted the transformative potential of mutual aid, prefigurative action, and direct democracy in building equitable and sustainable systems.