community

Tonight I started my first summer school class and already my mind is racing with ideas. I'm taking a Communities and Organizations class and it is really addressing a lot of things I've already had rolling around my brain for a long time. I just needed an outlet. I'm also involved in a conversation in my favorite online community about living "off the grid" and the feasability of that idea vs the hip ways to "live green" that are marketed to us now.

I really think that a lot of it has to do with the community mindset (or lack thereof) in this country. I mean, we are where we are, the grid is here yadda yadda. it just isn't feasible for me to ditch my car, maintain my own vegetable garden, make my own laundry detergent, all those other things i want to do and still, you know, work, get my master's, etc.

So, I've been thinking a lot about how we could really minimize our dependence on "the grid" and I think the answer really lies in taking on more of a community mindset. I can't do all of those things but I can put in time on a lot of them.

I know there are co-ops out there, CSAs, etc, but they are few and far between. I'd have to drive 45 miles one way to participate in one. Is the tradeoff in gas worth it? Would it make more sense to get together with some neighbors, one who has a big yard for a garden, one who works near me, both who want to use the laundry detergent i made a big batch of? (hypotherically and just pulling those examples out of the air).

Maybe some of you live in communities where this is happening but community gardens are rare to nonexistent around here. And I think this is really a big part of the answer. I don't think any of us can get off the grid alone but working in groups it is much more possible.

I am a big believer in community. I know that my son and I would have been lost without a community of friends and family surrounding us with love and support. In the predominant white culture, the focus is on individual success, hard work, bootstrapping. But that doesn't bear out. It doesn't work unless you make enough money, which is rarely connected to how hard you work.

I've worked hard over the past few years to build a community I can draw from and contribute to, but I think I'm ready to take it further. Maybe this is where I'm heading with my degree.