Community — i love mine
I recently read a very thought provoking article titled “Community – It’s Everything” that talked about how self reliant our society has come and how that trend has caused us to work much harder than would be necessary if we all relied on each other more often. At the risk of sounding “communistic”, I think there is really something important to be gained from this article.
Whether we realize it or not, we are all a part of a community of some sorts, and most of us share something with the others in that community. It might be meals, or knowledge, or cars, or even clothes, but in some way we share. That is part of what makes a community. And the more we share with others the more we receive in return.
I know I have greatly benefited from the community, Matt and I helped to create, among our close friends here in Richmond. We don’t all come from the same background, and we definitely don’t all have the same future plans, but we all share the common bond of being here in this place and having to rely on each other to “make-it”. Before living here I never experienced the type of community that comes from learning to ask for and offer help openly and without hesitation, and having a group of people to rely on and who rely on us has been an amazing and life changing experience.
I am not saying this will work for everyone or every situation, but it makes me wonder about the ways this could extend to more than just our close friends and family and how much good it could do.
