Importance of Community

Below I share a realization I had at the importance of my community.  If you have stories of love pumping through your own community I would really love to have them shared here.

There have been so many unsettling events in my community of West Philadelphia in the last week.  It is important to note that the sense of unease goes much deeper than just the 2 natural disasters that have struck this woefully unprepared and prone to panic part of the country.  The things, you know- OTHER than the two natural disasters, that have left me with crawling skin include such headlines as Missing 2-day old boy found in Philadelphia, which turned out not to be a devious and bizarre baby snatching, but a mother who's rights had been terminated trying to keep her son.  There was also an ENTIRELY burned out car right in front of dear Pumpernickle's home.  This shell of a car could have easily been a seriously dangerous situation if it had exploded or caught fire.   Finally, the thing that has been most on my mind was the death of a young woman in the West Philadelphia community.  I do not know enough about what happened to speak about the incident with respect other than to say that someone in my community died this week.  Her name was May, and from pictures of her it seems like she fit into a lot of the same identities that I see when I look in the mirror.  These things have all been individually disturbing, but all together have left me with an unshakable sense of fearfulness.  

In direct response to my own fear, I would like to look at what good has come out of these incidents. They have shed light on the important aspects of my community that I don't always take the time to appreciate. Communities have their own personalities- just like people.  I think West Philadelphia is the first community I have lived in that I would describe as warm, caring, and personal.  I had never personally met May.  We had lots of shared friends, and she definitely existed in this small community of West Philly folks that I recognize from around town.  Within a few hours of her going missing (which preceeded the news that she had in fact passed away) I had seen multiple facebook about her, seen missing fliers up in local shops, and had had conversation with many people about the fact that there was a missing person from our community.  Even though I did not know May or talk to anyone directly looking for her- I was invested and cared about her well-being.  She had many people looking out for her, and trying to help.  I felt it was an organic and community wide effort that was fueled by caring. The news that her body had been found was also shepparded in by many concerned calls, processing conversations, and collectively sad hearts.  

I have never lived in a neighborhood that really connects people as intimately as West Philadelphia does.  I feel like people really are connected here in the way that makes it feel small in a good way.  I can't walk down Baltimore Ave. without stopping to say hi! to a few people I know.  Whenever I have visitors in town, they always comment about how amazing it is that we see so many people I know well enough to stop and say hi to.  "It's just the way that West Philadelphia is," I always truthfully respond.  

Even as I am working overtime to process the amount of news that has shaken my world over the last week- I am thankful to look around and see that I'm in a community that supports me in these hard moments.  Hard moments are going to come no matter what- but I would much rather bare the weight of those hardships being surrounded by people who care.

I just returned from a clothing swap where an example of how to build community was modeled perfectly. The event was already pretty fantastic seeing as the hostess provided a shelter and champagne for our wardrobe switch-a-roo. Another friend schlepped enough chili to feed more than a few hungry mouths, whiskey to share, and oooodles of amazing clothes on public transportation from Northern Liberties (that's a long journey!) for our enjoyment. Her generousity and love reminded me of the small/big ways we can all work to make those connections that sustain and support us in the hard moments.  

Here's a really cheezy poster to get a list started. I would really love to hear people's stories of how their communities respond to hard times.  What do you do to build community?  Has someone shown you love and support in a way that left a mark?  This world just keeps getting crazier and scarier, and sometimes I feel like the only thing we have is each other. 

Love! Donkey