Finding Strength in Each Other: Why Community is Our Greatest Asset in Uncertain Times

Have you noticed how strange things feel right now? It’s not just the economy or the rapid changes in technology, it’s the way uncertainty has seeped into the fabric of our daily lives. Conversations feel heavier. People seem more on edge. Strangers open up about their fears in ways they never used to. This past week alone, I’ve had multiple conversations with people,. some I’ve just met—who, unprompted, expressed deep concern about the direction the world is heading, particularly in relation to the U.S. and Canada.

Whether it’s talk of tariffs, political instability, or the unsettling rhetoric questioning Canada’s sovereignty, there’s an undeniable undercurrent of fear. People are worried. Worried that our country is shifting towards nationalism, exclusion, and division. And more and more, I hear frustration misdirected at the most vulnerable members of our society, scapegoats for the larger, global forces that are reshaping our world at a pace faster than we can process.

I won’t pretend I’m not worried, too. I think about the Canada my daughter will inherit, the kind of world she’ll grow up in, and how vastly different it already is from the one I knew even five years ago. It feels like we’re constantly navigating “once-in-a-generation” disruptions, except now, they aren’t spaced generations apart. They’re stacked on top of each other, back to back. And with each new upheaval, that sense of helplessness grows.

But here’s what I keep coming back to: community.

Right now, the only thing truly within our control is the people we directly interact with. Not just our friends and family, but the barista at our local coffee shop who knows our order before we even say it, the daycare workers who care for our kids like they’re their own, the janitors and maintenance staff who work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep our spaces running, the grocery store cashier who always greets us with a smile, the Uber driver who picks us up after a long day, the bus driver who makes sure we get where we’re going safely, the neighbors we nod to but don’t always stop to talk to. The teachers, the postal workers, the people who cross our paths in small but meaningful ways.

These people are part of our daily lives, part of the invisible web of community that we often take for granted.

That is our circle of influence. And that’s where our energy needs to go.

If we channel our focus into strengthening those connections, helping when we can, being kind when we’re able, offering a moment of genuine presence to those who need it. That work alone is enough to keep us occupied. And the impact? It’s profound. Small acts of connection ripple outward, creating stronger, more resilient communities.

This helplessness we all feel right now? It has a cure. Togetherness.

We live in an era of hyper-connectivity. Social media, instant news, virtual meetings - yet many of us feel more isolated than ever. Our world has become so vast, so loud, so relentless that it can feel like we’re being swallowed whole. But the solution isn’t to try to hold onto everything, it’s to embrace the small. To focus on what’s right in front of us. To recognize that, whether we like it or not, these are the people we are moving through life with. And they need us just as much as we need them.

We don’t get to choose the strangers we share this moment in history with. But we do get to choose how we show up for them. We get to choose whether we add to the disconnection, the fear, the cynicism, or whether we push back, inch by inch, with connection, with presence, with compassion.

In 100 years, it will be an entirely new set of people walking this earth. But right now? It’s us. And what we do with this moment matters.

So let’s hold space for each other. Let’s lean into connection. Let’s resist the instinct to pull away in times of uncertainty and instead, turn toward each other. Let’s make the small, everyday choice to strengthen the world immediately around us. Because the only way through uncertainty is together.