| In
my years as an intentional community proponent, the reason I hear that
people want community in their lives is because their lives are feeling
empty and isolated. They may have friends and collegues, and maybe even
a lover or spouse, and yet they still feel somehow isolated, even as
they watch the crowds around them just an arm-length away. This is not a new phenomenon. It has been discussed in the social and psychological literature for a long time, and has been theorized to have started becoming a problem for humans when we left our tribal/clan roots about 10 thousand years ago when we were pushed out of our small tribes where we knew every other person and were assimilated into "supertribes" as Desmond Norris coined in his 70's books 'The Human Zoo" & 'The Naked Ape". There is much he said that I disagree with*, but it's still worth reading to get an intertesting picture, from a distance, of the psychological effects on us of not having what we are biologically programmed to want and need - a close community where we feel at home and don't need money or a job to feel we belong and have some self-esteem. Maybe we can spend some time later looking into why this is becoming a bigger issue now, but for the moment I want to write more about what we can do right now to help ourselves and each other - because that is what most of us crave - the kinds of connections in our lives that make us feel good, that both make us feel supported and that we are helping and supporting others. It is this kind of exchange that we most crave, and it makes sense too, we are biologically programmed to want this and to be good at it. Some say we are good at it because it guaranteed our survuval and the survival of our tribe, but for whatever reason it is still a need that is built into us and we must satisfy that need to feel good and at home. It's just like our need to eat and drink, it's a basic need that must be satisfied in order for us to survive. * This book is worth reading, but read it with a grain of salt because some of the authors interpretations I don't agree with and have been refuted by newer research. But there is much in the book to recommend it too. Just pick what feels right to you from it and if it does not feel right then simply reject that part and go n. Then you will enjoy it's insights. |