What is COMMUNITY?

This question was posed to me by an academic as I pursue building connection in community.

So, what is community? I belong to many.

The community where I live.

I belong to many communities. There is the one I live in. It is a mixture of people – old and young, affluent and not, male and female, educated and not, employed professionals, business owners and unemployed, coupled and single, families and singles, happy and discontent. In fact, in my street you probably could not get a more eclectic bunch of people living in community. In my community, difference is an important part of the makeup.

The family community.

My family is another community. My family are a motley crew. During those teenage years, when my daughters were widening their sense of self and their belonging I often contemplated naming my house ‘OESTROGEN’. I figured that would provide more protection from burglars than a ‘beware of the dog’ sign. (Incidentally, the dog was a bitch too!)

Family is different. Strangely (or maybe not), my family can have values and morals that differ from mine. Their opinions and purpose are different. Their interests and activities vary from my interest and activities. In my family community, where I belong, I am different. 

The work community.

Day after day I turn up to work to make a difference. I mix with my work community to discuss our purpose and plan moving forward. Sometimes my work community is not at a location or place, but rather it is the group of professionals with whom I share time and who have some common interests and passions. 

I have a Facebook community and a LinkedIn community. I have a community of people with whom I learn.

The more I examine what community means – the more I become aware that community means belonging with a difference. As we grow, we change and we are always growing. People are different. Community is different. When we bring ourselves to the table, we are in community.

What is community?

I guess I have not defined the topic very well. 

A quick google to define community shows: 

The word "community" is derived from the Old French comuneté, which comes from the Latin communitas or "public spirit"  or from Latin communis,  meaning "shared in common".

There is something that is shared in common in community.

A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. 

Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, town, or neighbourhood) or in virtual space through communication platforms.

Durable relations extend beyond immediate genealogical ties. Community is more than family, it is belonging.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community

A community has a degree of cohesiveness – a sense of belonging. People often use the words ‘THIS IS MY COMMUNITY’ which shows that they belong. There is something non-specific that pulls a community together. It may be simply geography. It could be the intent or purpose with which the community developed. It may be common interests or activities. My belief is that a community is established when the people have a sense of purpose or identity linked to the people or group from which they belong. These are different. These may change.

A community grows from its social capital- the people. And people are social beings. 

Why is good community important?

Sebastian Junger explores the human need to belong and feel accepted. He feels the rising PTSD is symbolic of a fractured society where people are disconnected from each other. He describes lessons that modern society can learn from tribal communities. 

It’s about why (for many people) war feels better than peace and hardship can turn out to be a great blessing and disasters are sometimes remembered more fondly than weddings or tropical vacations. Humans don’t mind duress; in fact, they thrive on it. What they mind is not feeling necessary.” 

— Sebastian Junger 

Good community is important in society. Studies found that people with poorer social relationships are at increased risk of premature death. Efforts to reduce cardiovascular disease incidence need to consider loneliness and social isolation. Read about this study here. 

https://heart.bmj.com/content/early/2016/03/15/heartjnl- 2015-308790?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Heart_TrendMD-0

DR Lissa Rankin studied the scientific link between lonely people and the risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia, hypertension, insomnia, suicide, diabetes, infection, anxiety, depression and addiction. She says that studies have shown that loneliness is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, increasing chances of mortality by 45%. 

Scary stuff.

What is the BAM COMMUNITY PLAN?

BAM Community is a good community. The purpose is to develop a Co-Independent living life model of housing that considers Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Co-Independent Living builds health and wellbeing through purpose, connection and responsibility. 

A good community supports the social capital, that is, the people. A good community needs robust social dialogue and opportunity to participate. It needs to build authentic and meaningful social ties. A good community needs an environment that encourages people to eat well, connect well and live well. 

We need to build authentic and meaningful community. BAM COMMUNITY vision is to builds an intentional good community of difference with purpose, connection and responsibility BAM! 

Inclusive and multigenerational communities where everyone feels like they contribute and belong is not the current model of Aged Care. The current model is not the model of care that the retiring “Baby Boomers” are looking for. 

Generation Y have been brought up to enjoy the finer things in life. They want quality and are happy to substitute quantity. Smaller living spaces, close to the beaches, nightlife and work or study will become important. Read the study here.

https://www.savills.com/impacts/social-change/will-gen-y-ever-able-afford-leave-home.html

Building good community means building connections. A community that embraces everyone’s difference. There is evidence from successful communities of yesteryear and elsewhere in the world. Multigenerational living is an authentic and good community.

This is the BAM VISSION of COMMUNITY. 

AND IT IS ‘DOABLE’ IN AUSTRALIA.