Community Building
CONNECTIONS
2012 16" diameter Colored Paper
Someone said in one of my groups that being in community is the way we will survive these dark times. I wholeheartedly agree. Community will help us weather the changes we will go through, no matter what personal or outside challenges lie ahead. Seeking community is different from being in community. We need and seek community like we need air and water. But there is a difference between a balloon needing air and a desert needing water, versus the sky being made of air and the ocean being made of water. We, too, are made of air and water like the sky and ocean. Being in community is recognizing that it is already an integral part of us. To paraphrase Thich Nhat Hanh, we are not isolated entities; we exist through interdependence. When you are an inter- being, you are not separate from anyone else. And activist Yuri Kochiyama put it this way, “We are all part of one another.”
I’ve heard a lot of talk these days about people, especially older people, feeling lonely. Loneliness is different from alone-ness. According to the online definition, “Being alone is a physical state of being by oneself, while loneliness is an emotional state of disconnection or lack of meaningful connection, even if surrounded by people. You can be happily alone (solitude) but can also feel lonely in a crowded room. Loneliness stems from a subjective feeling that your social needs are not being met, whereas being alone is an objective fact of physical separation from others.”
In the old days people used to drop in unannounced or call each other regularly. Nowadays we rarely call people and no one welcomes spontaneous visits anymore, but there is always a way to keep in touch if you really want to. I consider online connections the same as in-person connections in regards to community. To me it’s all just a pool of resources from which we get what we need at the moment. Sometimes we need physical connection; sometimes we need to be inspired; sometimes we simply need a question answered or someone to share our views with. My friends and I make plans to get together in person to see an exhibit or a show; then share photos of what we’ve experienced online so other people can enjoy. Some of my family and friends live in other states or countries and social media is a useful tool to keep in touch with each other. Through our online interactions, we have formed a strong bond. And if they do live near me, we sometimes make plans to meet in person. Such a delight when that happens.
As a community seeker all my life, I am now at the point where I feel like I am in community, even when I am physically alone. My heart is filled with gratitude at the people who walk with me, and that includes people who have gone on as ancestors but are still very much with me. My mandala-making gives me a tool to see the world as one interconnected whole. My community is visually laid out in the form of circles large and small. Many of my circles overlap and I’m adding new people to them or forming new circles as my interests expand. Each person in those circles can be activated if I need something. When we view our many connections this way, we can all see that we have more friends and resources than we realize. The circles can be our closest friends and family, colleagues, acquaintances, ethnic or religious affiliations, or even people on social media that we may not know in person but who know us from what we post. Like duckweed, we provide nourishment and support for each other as we travel through the waters of our existence together.