Community

I was asked recently to write down what community means to me. I have worked hard to network and bring people together. I joke about my modern day commune where we don’t live together, but we share resources and help each other out. There are times though when I feel quite alone and without community despite this network.

As a very extroverted person that loves to be around people nearly all the time, I recognize that my idea of community is not everyone’s and that each person in this community has different needs. Allowing people the space to have their needs fulfilled and supporting others during times of need is not always an easy balance.

My vision of community consist of shared meals. People gathered together and each supporting the event by bringing food or supplies, cooking, playing music, showing the kids how to help and so on. Every meal wouldn’t be this way, but it should occur often. Food brings people together. I want to listen to others talk about their week. I want to learn about new or lost relationships. New or lost opportunities. I find these are often good spaces for checking in with others.

Community means that I share my extras. I own chickens and geese. I often give out eggs to others. I really enjoy when others do the same. I have more than I need and so asking if someone else could use it. A continuous cycle of hand-me-downs and recycled housewares. A network of food and what nots that move from one household to the other.

Community means a space for the kids. That they are welcome and feel loved and valued as part of that system. That those around them recognize their value and help in their care, whether cleaning a spill, playing a game or showing them a new skill. That children in this system will have people around them that will support their growth, because they are people too.

Community means being there for our most vulnerable. Whether it is someone struggling with depression or anxiety or someone with needs our society doesn’t accommodate. If a ramp needs to be built, there is a group of people that show up and make it happen. If food needs to be provided a meal train is formed.

Maybe I have this weird utopia in my head, but the point isn’t that there won’t be problems. The idea is that when these problems happen, it is not one or two people weathering the storm. It is a group of people carrying umbrellas for each other. I believe that I have been laying the foundation for this, but sometimes I wish the doors and windows were already in or that others would start working on the walls. Maybe that is the part I am missing. Finding others that have been doing this work as well and supporting each other through this process.