Creating Community through Corona..
For many years now I have been seeking to create community, which to me is just a feeling of connection with likeminded people. Found I was part of a few tribes; cultural groups, activism and volunteer garden communities. There were also ones I’d created: Sangha, through yoga students and friends, as well as with other creators through the street markets scene.
This is an innate human need that we all have, despite how much we enjoy solitude and may not appear to be social, we all need connection. Though for each of us, we seek to source it differently; online, on the phone, face to face through tangible projects and or giving time to create community for those vulnerable and definitely in need.
Now more than ever I see and hear about communities popping up everywhere. Many streets have setup WhatsApp groups for supermarket runs, food parcel deliveries and chats with elderly neighbours, batch food cooked and shared, online board games and activities to keep kids entertained. Community is sprouting everywhere, finally Thinking Global while Acting Local.
As I have been active in my local community for a while now I see common threads to how things flow and can suggest Four Easy Ways to create community connections in your world.
1.Create a Timebank or Simple Exchange of Services
Understanding and knowing that Money is just a form of energy, allows you to see that you will always have it. Let me explain, we all have skills and talents that are of value and can be commodified if and when needed.
For example I recently swapped getting my bike serviced by a local expert with a yoga/mindfulness session. Exchanging time makes more sense than exchanging money, especially if you’re not earning right now. The key is not to get bogged down on what the monetary value is, at the end of the day if I need my bike fixed and you need to feel less anxious and stretch your body out then why not exchange?
Westerners got too stuck on paper money, which is silly as money was originally created to make bartering easier.
Time banks are huge in Greece and Spain while Egyptians do this naturally and locally I'm very proud that one of the few time banks left in London is in Catford; www.rgtb.org.uk
2. Food Consciousnesses
One thing we all do daily, without fail is Eat! (Some of us more than we need to right? Observing not judging!)
Supermarkets are essential and remain open, key workers have been elevated to higher status now as they are finally being respected for their ‘service’.
Sadly, supermarkets do waste so much food though there are countless local Food charities that pickup surplus food and redistribute to vulnerable, poor and those in need. Again in my beloved Lewisham there is Foodcycle, Catford Fridge and many more who are all co-ordinating efforts to get food out to those who need it. Since Lockdown started there has been a 300% increase in people accessing food charities in the UK, 1in 5 people are going hungry. Shameful. So communities serve tofill a void that the government won't.
How can you help? Volunteer at one of these charities or can you cook?
Why not batch cook one evening a week and share with your neighbours who may be eating on a Groundhog Day cycle of boring food? You could each take turns to cook and share. Definitely fosters cultural understanding too, dissolving differences.
Or green fingered? Brings me to my next point.
3.Grow Your Own.
For many years I’ve volunteered at various different community gardens, learning how to weed, toil soil and ultimately grow, while connecting with beautifully organically people. 3 years ago I was blessed to finally get my own plot; a huge double plot that overwhelmed me and am shamed to admit I rarely made time for.
Since lockdown I've been obsessed, making time to go there every other day to weed, sort out soil and compost and plant. The activity down there is amazing, both in nature and with people tending to their plots, so incredibly good for your mental health also.
You don’t need a huge plot of land to grow either, I’ve grown on balconies, window sills and in buckets in my kitchen. You just need good quality seeds, good compost and soil and a will to grow. Remember these are living beings, which basically means Life wants to live. You plant a seed and it grows..simple.
I still remember the first courgette I ever grew, I cried when I
picked it, blessed it and cooked it with reverence on very low slow heat to keep nutrients intact. Growing food will change your perception of health and improve your mental wellbeing. Growing Communities are abundant, sweet, loving and fun!
Some of my fave in London are Sydenham Gardens, Loughborough Farm and Spitalfields Farm. All come under the umbrella network of www.sustainweb.org
4. Get Creative
So many of us in lockdown are turning (or returning) to activities we loved and long put on the shelf as we were too busy;in the rat race of life..
Teaching our kids to try things out subsequently allows us to dabble, learn and enjoy the process of being creative. Everyone has a creative talent dormant within, if we only just allow the Process instead of expecting Perfection or pressure ourselves to produce this great product at the end of the session. Our conditional operational systems have put us in a perpetual productivity mode. Creativity is a crazy, messy process that sometimes ends up in the bin, but the cathartic release is why we do this.
We are all co-creators of our lives, the more time we allow daily to write, sew, draw, sculpt, dance, cook, etc the more space between our thoughts we will find. Creativity and spirituality go hand in hand. Creativity is mindfulness in action, it’s deeply meditative. Do something creative today, there already loads of bright, beautiful online creative communities like udemy.com or Obby.co.uk offering some great course, one of my local faveourite creatives is Karen Arthur, Wear your Happy, runs Tuesday night classes online
If you feel totally blocked and are still denying that your creative self or inner child even exists, there is hope.. Buy this WORKbook and heal, The Artists Way By Julie Cameron.
Community and Competition cannot co-exist. The world and Mother Earth needs more community initiatives..
Lockdown isn’t a jail sentence, it’s a huge time for reflection, healing and Community connections..
Much love and please do share any ideas or initiatives out there on community.
