Community, part 2

I absolutely love the community that I have this year in Elgin. I live in a house with five other people. So, my immediate community is composed of five others, committed to the same type of work as me--volunteering. However, I don't think it is necessarily due to us working at the same place from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., that makes our community so closeknit. I think it is deeper than that.

We all look out for each other. We are all genuinely interested in what each and every one of us is doing. Yes, perhaps in sharing groceries and household responsibilities, we are made closer to one another, but I would argue this is not automatic. I don't think you can just plant six young adults in a communal living environment, for whatever reasons, and expect them to form and grow a successful community. I think it has taken willingness from each of us.

However, I also do not think that in order for people to live communally, they all need to be sharing the same income and food. I think these things help. But I think that people are connected by more than how much they earn and sharing food. It is conceivable, in my mind, to have people living together for the soul purpose of living together; people strongly committed to struggling and growing together. I feel like that is the essence of communities.