Community

Having gone to a committee meeting focused on community organizing tonight, I began to give a bit of thought to the idea of community. For, you see, when I joined said committee, I was thinking about it as just relating to the community of people right there (or perhaps the community of out of work people with time to spare, since at the time, I was out of work and available to offer some hours). And somehow, while it is based in one place, this committee has become about more than just organizing within that community. It has become about building community in general.

When I was working at One Life to Live (yes, here we go again!), the place was a huge community for me, and then multiple communities as producers and staffs changed and shifted over time. By the time West 66th Street was over, it had left me with an extended community of hundreds of people, even more if you counted the people I met on Cosby when I left OLTL for four years. It was a community in which I enjoyed spending long hours for many years, and it has been a community that has helped me both emotionally and networking-wise over the last few years.

I am realizing, however, that I am part of many communities, as perhaps we all are. Each time we communicate with other people about the things that interest us, we are part of a community. Each time we take our kids to a new activity or even just to their schools, we are part of yet another community. Even each new gig, however short, can introduce us to a new community. Each time we make connections with other people, we are opening ourselves to new forms of community.

My meeting tonight included making group decisions, celebrating past successes, putting dates on the calendar,  and signing up for jobs within that community. But, even more important, it reminded me of the importance of seeing the communities around me. Of realizing that community organizing is not just about what you do at a monthly meeting. It's about the connections you allow yourself to make every day in between.