Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A sense of Community


What is community? What is disassociating us from the rest of the world? Previously community was people in close proximity to us, usually a homogenous blend of folks that you had in villages, tribes, small towns, cities or neighborhoods. People that tended to associate closely with each other because their beliefs and ideals were closely aligned with each other. They all shared a lot in common and there was a protectiveness about the community. This means, at least overtly, that everyone tended to think, feel and act alike. Just like in Fraternities, Sororities, Elks Clubs, Masons etc.

You tend to group together with people that offer some sense of security and that think so much like you. But the problem is that you are not truly allowed to think outside the boundaries; to expand parts of your intellect or psyche that is looking for something else. You will not be allowed to do it within the context of the community if it is seen as abnormal by a majority of the group.

Today we can view our community as the world via the internet. Reaching out and touching and building bonds via cyberspace. But there is no personal interaction; no hugging, no touching, no physical contact. No feeling or sense of close community by sitting next to or seeing individuals on a daily basis. No looking people in the eye, reading the body language, reading the face, understanding the truth of the personal connectivity that is going on in that moment. And this leaves us cyber-isolated.

Those w/in close proximity may not provide the psychological stimulation that we need; they may actually hold us back from what we want to do. We have a dichotomy between the people close to us that we feel frustrations with and the people cyber-separated that we cannot see and feel. The people close to us may not be comfortable with some of the personal areas that we are exploring and those cyber connected that share our same desires for growth may be so far away that we could never physically visit them.

The next phase of what we would view as community would need people in close proximity that share close personal connections and gives us our feelings of humanity and need for human contact and allows us to explore (cyber-wise) our desires for personal growth and expansion on the web with people that will never be able to give us the personal touch.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I enjoyed reading your insight on community. This resonates with me on different levels I do hope that more people in our country will embrace that "common unity" that is community.