11/10/2024
Wellness Series
Modern “community”, why do we need one?
The term “community” sometimes feels aloof and not a part of our everyday lives. Our western society has moved away from living in a community and embraced an individualistic way of life. In many other cultures and times gone by, we lived communally, each person had a role and things like hunting/gathering (shopping), cooking, cleaning and child rearing were shared. Emotional burdens were also shared such as shared grieving rituals where your grief was acknowledged by your loved ones and the community grieved with you.
2024 presents a very different picture where many people are isolated and don’t have the support of family or friends around them. We know the negative mental health, physical health and emotional impacts of this social isolation and need to find ways to help people connect again.
When you are from a particular culture you are a part of a community, when you are from a small regional town you are a part of a community, when you have a shared interest with others you are part of a community. But for some people there is not an obvious community to reach out to. Finding and connecting to a community is not always easy, but with today’s technology we have the opportunity to find people with similar interests to us and connect to people all around the world.
There are so many benefits to being a part of a community including a deep sense of belonging. When people engage with others who share common interests or goals, they feel connected to others and something bigger than themselves. This sense of belonging is so important for mental and emotional well-being and can provide a support network and a feeling of being valued and accepted.
Communities are incubators for shared interests and values, creating opportunities for people to come together, collaborate, and collectively address local issues. There are countless examples of communities mobilising to make positive changes, including activism – think climate change or women’s rights, fundraising for a specific cause, or local people coming together to improve public spaces or fight to protect their green space.
Once you have found some like-minded people, whether its online or face to face it takes time to get to know each other and trust one another. These relationships will strengthen over time, and you may feel comfortable to share more about yourself and ask for support when you need it. Your community might not look like times gone by where communities lived communally and shared tasks, but it might be able to offer the emotional support you have been looking for. This goes a long way in making us feel like we are not alone and there are others around us who care.
I’m so excited about the Wellbeing Series I’m co-facilitating with Lisa White from Imaginal Coaching. It’s an 8-week course for late diagnosed autistic and/or ADHD adults (who identifies as a woman, non-binary or genderqueer). Being a part of creating a community around people is why I do this work. The Wellbeing Series: cultivating care from within co-designs safe spaces to have meaningful conversations, create connections to your community and develop self-care strategies to nurture your mind, body and spirit post diagnosis. Please get in touch if you are interested in being involved.
