Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

Community

We are the makers of subcultures. You and your friends who play bunco. The Monday morning sewing group. The “If it’s Thursday, it’s the Bistro” group.

We create communities by the places we frequent (Barnes and Noble every Thursday morning that we’re in town), and the ones we consciously join, (an American Revolutionary War reenactment group). 

And there are subcultures in the subcultures. Once we join the book club, then we are part of either the group of five who enjoys movies or the group of four who enjoys trying out the recipes in the back of the cozy mystery books. 

We are beekeepers and bookkeepers. We are members of associations and associates who mingle at the Chamber of Commerce event. There are the communities we are born into, families and schools, church and such, and the ones we are dragged into by well-meaning neighbors, such as homeowner groups. 

To live is to be in community, find your tribe, meet with your peers. We give, we take. We flourish, we fade. We forgive and hurt others, requiring forgiveness. There is much to work out in our communities. 

There are the “lesser knowns” in our communities, and we may be among them. There are the “better knowns” that we watch from afar and to whom we hope to match our stride. Up. Down. Back. Forth. The rhythm of life, danced best when the dance floor is full and we can get lost in the community of dancers. One-two-three … here we go …
 
 
Of all your communities, where are you happiest?
 
Where do you fit in the best?