Today I’ve been sorting through all sorts of stuff at the Centre because we are having a refresh of the energy. And new carpets! As I sorted through things with one of my fellow practitioners the word community kept coming to mind. One of the things we often forget about is our connection to one another. We think we have to do things all by ourselves or to be the one driving our life forward. Then in an effort to make connections we rush around giving our energy to everyone without considering if they are part of our community or not. I experienced community in it’s best sense following the flooding here on Boxing Day. Many many strangers came along to make sure our area got help and support. Many people in my town who had been strangers to one another gave help and support to each other. Each of these circumstances opened up more opportunities to recognise that we were a shared community both locally and nationally.

Seeing what worked in the way of help and support, and what didn’t, some of the practitioners in the Valley, myself included, offered free emotional support to our community. The support was in many holistic ways through a variety of events, groups and listening ears. Yet the response from another perspective was to pass the need for emotional support onto the services provided by local or national government bodies. It almost seemed that the underlying assumption was that the community couldn’t offer support itself. When you need a listening ear do you really want to access a time limited, resources driven organisation?  That thread of thought brought me to Coronation St. I grew up in an area very like the TV soap. People knew each others business. People were nosey. Yet people also rallied round when there was a need for support. The small area of streets I lived in were a strong community. Emotional support came from neighbours and friends willing to listen and share. Have we become too private about our lives that the community is unable to support us because we don’t even recognise it’s there?

There was a sort of community meeting this evening and I went along. It’s interesting to look at who is part of my community. There were interesting presentations about a lot of issues affecting the wider community but not very many voices speaking up. Not because they weren’t allowed to but because they weren’t there. So how do we know what the wider community thinks or feels? And does it matter if we all disappear behind our doors every evening and never interact? I know it’s very different in the Spirit World. There is the widest definition of community that can be applied. Each individual Spirit is quite clear that they are part of the whole community of Spirit. They take an active interest in all that is happening. Support is something they don’t even have to think about. It is a natural occurrence. It is a giving and receiving from one to another without asking. When one wishes then all wish. I’m building a community at the Centre. A community based on giving and receiving with no strings attached. That is hard for people to get their heads around because the understanding of community has become blurred in our world. People react in all sorts of uncomfortable ways, especially to receiving anything other than material things, yet giving is good for the whole community and opportunities to receive create chances for others to give.

So tomorrow it’s on with the refurbishing, the giving and, hopefully, the receiving. I wish you many opportunities to receive too ?

Day 140 of my blogging challenge.