Community Care

Self care is a buzzy term in the wellness world, but have you ever heard of community care? In the western world over the past few decades, we have become more and more isolated. We focus on our nuclear families, we don’t know our neighbors, adult loneliness is an epidemic, and that makes self-care very attractive. We’re alone anyway or with small numbers of people, we should be able to care for ourselves.

But it’s not realistic.

Humans are communal animals. We form families, we are interdependent in getting our needs met, we create villages, towns, and societies. We are reliant on others (whether we like it or not). We feel better as human beings when we feel belonging. When we feel isolated or feel like we don’t belong, the consequences can be grave.  Given that, the health and wellness of a community is also the responsibility of the community.

There is a quote regarding this topic that reads:

“the difference between the strength of a rope and the weakness of a string is that rope is a hundred strings that have bound together”

We’re the strings. We have to bind together to ensure the strength of a community.

The charge of this is two-fold. There are micro and macro behaviors that strengthen the health of a community and fall under the umbrella of community care.

Let’s start large. Macro examples of community care include paying taxes (even if you individually are not the beneficiary of what that money is going toward), food drives, coat drives, and large-scale community cleanup events.

Secondly, there are micro behaviors that can result in community care. We must first recognize our responsibility to others. What can we do as individuals to support community? Some ideas are saying hello to your neighbors. Get to know the people who literally live around you. Engage in the small talk. Small talk leads to more vulnerable talk. Take pride in your space and keep it clean. People gather in places they feel safe. Include your neighbors and acquaintances. Invite them to events happening. Go out of your way to be inclusive rather than build exclusivity. What are larger ways that you can nurture your community? Does your neighborhood have a mutual aid association? Do people know about it? What about a community fridge? Buy nothing groups? These all work to ensure that the needs of a community are being met and that the connection of a community is being felt.

This pays off individual dividends as well. It’s not new research that explores the connection between self-concept and volunteering. Additionally, when one feels a sense of belonging, it makes it easier to access some of those coping skills and self-care skills that we’re all so fond of touting.

If you’re struggling with finding or nurturing community, or want to explore ways that you can be more involved in your local community to foster belonging, click the button below and we’ll continue the conversation. If you have any other ideas about how to care for your community, share them below!