True Community

I worked at San Geronimo Valley Community Center (SGVCC-https://www.sgvcc.org/) from 10/2007 until 8/2013. It was a great experience! During that tenure the" Great Recession" hit and I became the Human Services Director. They have a quarterly newsletter- Stone Soup- which is mailed to everyone in the Valley. This is the article I wrote for the Spring 2011 issue. Enjoy-

We are in a process of breaking down out dated believes and systems. There is always a choice whether that breaking down is painful because we were in denial that a situation we were involved in was falling apart or if by conscious design we navigate the challenges we find ourselves in. No matter how you cut it a birth of a new paradigm is difficult; the degree of that difficulty can be seen around us. One thing the economic crisis has shown us is we cannot depend on large faceless entities like corporations, banks, or governments to take care of us.   Words, promises, even tax laws that were voted for and were set in stone (such as the cigarette tax support First 5) mean little to nothing when the economy tanked.    The old American concept of “Bigger is Better” has fallen on its face.

There is an older American tradition that could be a phoenix in this situation. That is the tradition of sticking together, of helping your neighbor; that is the tradition of community. There are places were this tradition never died such as Amish communities. I have lived and worked with and around Amish communities and their degree cooperation, cohesion, and sustaining each other is beyond most comprehension.  There were many commune started in the sixties that tried to embrace the spirit of community. Some succeeded and really none failed, just in the act of trying they succeeded. These communities took many forms, spiritual, hippy, back to the earth, art colonies and the list goes on. I live in a spiritual communities and again the love and support I experiences was beyond believe.

I moved to Eureka Montana in the early nineties with a goal to start a commune. We had 20 acre and three families living on it. We were a big extended family of 13 members all in the same soup, all believing in what we were doing. As with many families we had our dysfunction but in the long run it brought us closer.  The town of Eureka itself at that time was a magical place. There was a strong community of woods hippies and we all functioned like an Amish community. We help each other build homes, harvest crops, shared home when the temperature dripped to -30 to save and share fuel, we lived as one. There were elders who brought wisdom and all brought wisdom. Much in the Jerry Garcia tradition none would accept a title of leadership and with the Anarchist philosophy most of us embraced none would bestow such a title. There was respect instead of hierarchy.

These times have showed me that deep caring community is not only possible but essential for human to survive. Community does not come from big government, security does not come from money in big banks; happiness, trust in life, peace in one’s mind does not come from the new biggest thing form big corporations. No one leader can save us.  All things that highlight the highest human potential come from community. It is the knowing, opening, and share of all things human that community gives us the canvas to explore. The bigness that America has become give us only uniformity, conformity and a sterile environment where the true human in our light and dark fades and dies.

Community is not based in organizations or institutions it is based in the heart. Where the social support system set in place by big government have pulled back funding when those in need needed it most our Valley has increased its donations locally.  This is not to say the individuals working in government lack heart, as many are quit empathic but that the people who feel and see their neighbor’s difficulties step forward to make a difference.  Neighbors supporting neighbors is where the future lays. Whether someone is giving time, thoughts, prayers or money it is the giving of self that is the start of community. It is the giving of self where humans find their highest potential.

The Valley has the heart and desire to form community. Many who move here are stuck by the sense of community they feel. Still I would like to challenge all of us to really looking inside ourselves to see how we can deepen our bond with our neighbors. Many times hardship brings out the best part in ourselves; which is desires to help and how can we help when things seem good. If you were a senior living the Valley what kind of support would you want from your community? If you were a parent what kind of community would you want your children to be surrounded by?  If you just got diagnoses with a disease or a hardship happened in your family why role would your neighbors play? If you are having a great day how do you share that with your neighbors? When you feel abundance, security, or at peace with yourself how do spread that throughout the Valley? This Valley has made great strides in building a community mostly unseen in present day America and would it not be great to go deeper? The next steps to create a more meaningful community do not lie in all the great strides the Valley has made towards community but rather in the steps that have not been taking yet.  Let’s take those steps! Let’s continue to move away from the illusion of security offered by big faceless institutions and embrace what is real- our neighbors, our Valley, our community.

Copyright © 2019 by Joseph and Human Anonymous
First published 2011 in Stone Soup