This post has been prompted by
Melinda over a One Green Generation who posed that
"Doing it Alone isn't Enough". I have to say I read the post with interest but mild trepidation. On one hand I agree that one family in suburbia changing the way they live simply isn't enough to counteract the damage being done on a planet wide scale. On the other as a self confessed introvert I know just how hard a hurdle community engagement can be for some people.
Being honest here almost all of my life I have lived almost parallel to community not been part of it. I respected community but didn't really see a need or feel a reason to throw energy into something, that for me, is work. I enjoy spending time in my community but the reality is that for me I am just as happy spending my time in my own space and from my point of view doing so was more productive time. In fact if someone had told me at the beginning that to be sustainable I would need to be an active part of my community I probably would have walked away.
It was about 2 years ago when I came to the realisation that community has more worth than somewhere to socialise, as important as that is for some. When I looked at it through the lens of resilience it was the only option. I simply couldn't know and be sufficiently skilled at everything my household needed access to if the industrial complex was whisked out from under our feet. I could probably keep us fed and clothed, if I have access to fabric, but only if the people around us were sufficiently skilled not to need our food to survive.
It was at that point it really hit home that one of the major differences in Oil Rich Countries is that community involvement is negotiable. With all our oil slaves, the petrol mower, the car and all our power tools most tasks are able to be completed without help. One person can wash the clothes without having to go outside the home, in fact they can do it overnight, while they themselves sleep, if they wish. One person can drive 100k in a couple of hours without having to speak to anyone.
The worth of Community had been devalued .. it had gone from a Need to a Want. For those of us that are not all that socially motivated it wasn't even a want. We are more than happy to live in our own little oil powered universe where the only community interactions we engage in are those of our own choosing.
Needless to say this realisation reprioritised community engagement in my life. In my view that little cheap oil powered universe isn't going to last. I am going to NEED the people around to know who I am. People who will need my help and recognise I will need theirs to get things done. I need them to have enough skills themselves that stealing from me isn't the only option for the survival of their family. I for the safety and security of me and mine I needed to live in a highly skilled, resillient community. Unfortunately to my knowledge outside of intentional communities, which tend to be rather cut of from their wider locality communities, such a thing doesn't even get close to existing.
I had to build my community involvement up from nothing. Two years later my current involvement looks something like this. I am a member of around five different community groups. This is up from my previous career high of one which I then needed to drop when I got hurt. It is not uncommon for at least 2-3 weekends a month be events where I am helping out on behalf of one of these group, either to publicise the group and our interests or simply get together to ensure that we are all pulling in the same direction. Other weekends I may be attending skill workshops or running one myself. During the week I often have at least one meeting, most of which are learning opportunities with a social focus.
Where my experience is useful I am running workshops for the existing local permaculture or "Community Harvest" group. The problem with this always is that getting people inspired to attend is an ongoing challenge. That said my philosophy is that my knowledge will be here as long as I am so there may be more interest later. I will simply keep offering to re run a workshop that previously garnered no interest. This is a very real attempt to start reskilling the population around me.
I am part of the B E C which is a new startup group focused on bringing community gardens to a used but under utilised parkland area a couple of suburbs away. We have to deal with the shire on getting access to the areas we need as well as gain access to funding, along with our own internal fundraising to keep the projects that we start going. As with all fledgling community groups we are trying hard to keep things moving forward while attempting to garner interest and physical support so the core group don't burn themselves out.
I am not particularly strong on the "activisim" side of things. I am more than happy to educate and express my opinions even if contrary to the general grind, if asked, but you won't find me out on the street protesting. Honestly that is just not something that is part of who I am.. at the core I am a rule follower. Luckily there are others in the groups I am members of who take up those roles and actually enjoy it.
For me it comes down to doing what I enjoy and therefore are best at. In some cases that will mean I will be the only entrant aged under 50 entering preserves in the local garden show preserves section. In others it will mean that I spend 3 hours drawing up a scale plan for a proposed garden plot that may never get used as I am the best person for the job.
The point of strong vibrant communities for me is that you don't have to be able to do it all. At the moment I do more than I am comfortable with at times because there simply are not any more able hands to pass things to but that isn't sustainable either, not long term. The problem seems to me is finding the critical mass of community engagement that means people are happy to raise their hands secure in the knowledge they won't end up spending hours or with more jobs than they bargained for just because they said "yes" once. Thus right now because of the lack of hands as much as possible it really is an all hands on deck situation and I do my best to comply.
For those of us who realise that community building will be a matter of survival in the future it can be hard at times to accept that for most others right now it is just recreation. I agree that active, vibrant communities are the only way to a safe and resilient future. The balance is that I also feel healthy community needs to be a flexible space that meets people where they are. Part of that is accepting that for some people doing it alone has to be enough. Communities have always had people that existed on the fringe, who are not completely engaged in normal community running. The problem isn't that these people exist, it is simply the amount of them causing disproportionate load on those that are active.
There is a very real need to find a way to keep offering a wide range of engagement opportunities to ensure inspiration is available if or when they are ready. All having to be done without burning out the few that are currently the actively engaged life blood of these groups.
Right now I honestly can't say I have any idea how we achieve this successfully. It is an interesting challenge that almost as complex as the wider ones of peak oil and sustainability.
