Creating community where you are
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| + | ==Preamble== | ||
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| Community is in trouble in our culture. The isolation of the urban areas, the suburbs, and even the rural areas is well known, but has been so pervasive for so long that it has become “normal.” The limited functionality of the nuclear family in raising children and providing fulfillment and support for the adults (and the even more extreme challenges of single parents) is well recognized. Yet there is very little recognition of one of the major underlying causes: our culture is as destructive of community as it is of our environment. We need a community movement as much as we need an environmental movement, to create a sustainable human culture as well as a sustainable environment. In fact, we’ve been needing it for a long time – Ralph Borsodi (who founded the School of Living) and Arthur Morgan (who founded Community Service, Inc.) were sounding alarm bells in the 1930s, and began working to improve the functioning of rural areas, small towns, and urban neighborhoods. | Community is in trouble in our culture. The isolation of the urban areas, the suburbs, and even the rural areas is well known, but has been so pervasive for so long that it has become “normal.” The limited functionality of the nuclear family in raising children and providing fulfillment and support for the adults (and the even more extreme challenges of single parents) is well recognized. Yet there is very little recognition of one of the major underlying causes: our culture is as destructive of community as it is of our environment. We need a community movement as much as we need an environmental movement, to create a sustainable human culture as well as a sustainable environment. In fact, we’ve been needing it for a long time – Ralph Borsodi (who founded the School of Living) and Arthur Morgan (who founded Community Service, Inc.) were sounding alarm bells in the 1930s, and began working to improve the functioning of rural areas, small towns, and urban neighborhoods. | ||
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| + | ==Ten circles of community== | ||
| + | |||
| + | The communities we help create in our lives can be seen as circles. Some overlap, some are concentric. Our ability to feel a sense of community within each circle is different for each of us, and may vary over time. They range in size from the most intimate to the extremely large: | ||
| + | #The [[inner community]] we each find within ourself. | ||
| + | #The [[house community]] of people we live with. | ||
| + | #The [[local community]] in our geographic area:neighborhood, village, town, etc. | ||
| + | #[[Organization communities]] we participate in: church, school, civic club, volunteer group, national and international organizations. | ||
| + | #[[Political communities]] defined by political boundaries: city, county, state, nation. | ||
| + | #The [[world community]] of all people alive right now. | ||
| + | #The [[public community]] of all the people we meet out in public spaces. | ||
| + | #[[Communities of interest]] that form around interests and activities we share with others. | ||
| + | #The [[community of all living things]]. | ||
| + | #[[Community over time]] that expands the above communities to past and future members as well. | ||
Revision as of 16:48, November 26, 2010
Preamble
Community is in trouble in our culture. The isolation of the urban areas, the suburbs, and even the rural areas is well known, but has been so pervasive for so long that it has become “normal.” The limited functionality of the nuclear family in raising children and providing fulfillment and support for the adults (and the even more extreme challenges of single parents) is well recognized. Yet there is very little recognition of one of the major underlying causes: our culture is as destructive of community as it is of our environment. We need a community movement as much as we need an environmental movement, to create a sustainable human culture as well as a sustainable environment. In fact, we’ve been needing it for a long time – Ralph Borsodi (who founded the School of Living) and Arthur Morgan (who founded Community Service, Inc.) were sounding alarm bells in the 1930s, and began working to improve the functioning of rural areas, small towns, and urban neighborhoods.
Ten circles of community
The communities we help create in our lives can be seen as circles. Some overlap, some are concentric. Our ability to feel a sense of community within each circle is different for each of us, and may vary over time. They range in size from the most intimate to the extremely large:
- The inner community we each find within ourself.
- The house community of people we live with.
- The local community in our geographic area:neighborhood, village, town, etc.
- Organization communities we participate in: church, school, civic club, volunteer group, national and international organizations.
- Political communities defined by political boundaries: city, county, state, nation.
- The world community of all people alive right now.
- The public community of all the people we meet out in public spaces.
- Communities of interest that form around interests and activities we share with others.
- The community of all living things.
- Community over time that expands the above communities to past and future members as well.
