Each of us lives in a community. Few people can truly claim they are not part of any community. We are part of a neighborhood or city community. Or maybe we’re part of a rural community. We may be part of a religious community (e.g congregation). Most of us are part of a school community, which would include a community of alumni. We are part of any community where we share common backgrounds or experiences with other people. The most significant communities, though, are the ones we interact with regularly. This would generally include our families, our neighborhoods, our schools or workplaces, etc.
Why do Communities Matter?
Communities are not just collections of people that get in our way or cause us trouble. Those are evidence of a community with problems. In reality, communities have developed throughout the history of mankind as a means for people to protect themselves and have easier access to all that they need and want.
Imagine if our community, Tooele County, wasn’t here. Then you, by yourself, started living in this large land area that we call Tooele County. Some obvious questions would arise: Where will you live? (No one has built houses here.) How will you get your food? (Stores?…What stores?) How will you get around? (There are no roads, except for dirt paths left behind by others who passed through.) Who will you spend your time with? (No one else lives here.) Will you communicate by phone or online? (One big problem: No electricity!) It seems obvious that our county/city community provides a lot of what we take for granted. Without our great community, we would be missing a lot of the good things in our lives.
Cultural Deposits
While communities are important for our survival and for conveniences, it is true that the people of a community can contribute good or bad things to the community. This suggests that while communities are important to individuals, our individual contributions are also important to the community generally. If we and others disregard the community and think only of ourselves, the whole community can suffer in various ways. On the other hand, if we and many others do things that are helpful and good, we contribute to the good of the community overall. I call these contributions “cultural deposits.”
Each of us makes cultural deposits every time we do anything in the community. Even the way we drive in town makes some sort of cultural deposits. These cultural deposits can be small-scale or large-scale and may have short-term effects or long-lasting residual effects. They can also be localized or wide-reaching. For example, if we smile at someone passing by, that would be a small-scale, localized deposit that may last only for a short time. But when each of us contributes to the building of a new school through our taxes, that is a large-scale, wide-reaching deposit that will last for decades to come.
Not only do we make cultural deposits, but each of us has inherited a community culture shaped by thousands, perhaps millions, of cultural deposits that linger from the past until now. These cultural deposits have influenced how we think and how we live our lives, whether we realize it or not. It’s important for each of us to give our best efforts to make worthwhile, positive cultural deposits. This is an important task for each of us that can help improve our community over time.
Elements of a good community
According to a peer-reviewed article on PositivePsychology.com, the following ten characteristics help create a more positive community:
- Share common goals
- Support freedom to express wants and needs
- Address member concerns with sensitivity
- Set clear policies and obligations
- Act with fairness
- Celebrate heritage and traditions
- Promote interaction among members
- Elect leaders that stand by community values
- Prioritize effective communication
- Make smart decisions
(Source: https://positivepsychology.com/10-traits-positive-community/)
In whatever capacity we act within the community, we should promote these types of community attributes, for the good of our community, which can come back to us in community improvements.
Why Lightward Bound Cares
Creating positive, uplifting communities is important to Lightward Bound because light helps create such communities and such communities help put more light into the lives of people. That is the fundamental work of Lightward Bound.
For the month of December 2022, the meme posts on Lightward Bound’s Facebook Page will focus on community. As a member of the Tooele, Utah community, I ask that we all do our part to make positive cultural deposits here.
It’s for me; it’s for you; it’s for US!