Community - A More Meaningful Life

Economic turmoil is causing many of us to re-examine our lifestyles and find new ways to fulfill ourselves.

We've fallen into a habit of turning outward to satisfy our needs to impress others, to keep busy, and to entertain ourselves. We work hard to show the world that we're living a full life.

But are we satisfied? Maybe not.

After the 9/11 attacks, Americans turned their attentions to their families, their neighbors, their communities, and many discovered a sense of belonging they hadn't experienced before or had forgotten. That lasted a few years, until the pain of that day was numbed, and we began to fall back into old habits.

Now we face an economic "attack"; an attack we might not dismiss so quickly, but one that promises a silver lining for those willing to see it.

We have an opportunity to simplify our lives - by necessity, for many of us - and reconnect to the people and the things close around us, the things with real meaning, the things that bring us real fulfillment.

We can re-learn the meaning of "home".

For much of the history of this nation, "home" was defined in the community sense as much as it was individual "house" sense. Home always was a village, a town, a neighborhood, and the people we shared that community with. Home was a place larger than the house we lived in.

But affluence changed that. No longer did we need to go out to the movies, we could build a movie theatre right in our own home. Why meet friends at the local tavern, when we've got a perfectly good full-sized bar in the basement? And what's the point of joining the community at the park for the Independence Day fireworks show when we can hold our own "show" on our 2-acre lawn?

A wonderful opportunity is before us to reconnect with our neighbors, to recreate our communities. It's a chance to remember how much we have to gain by bumping into our friends and neighbors outside the movie theatre; a chance to share a drink with a stranger at the pub and get to know him; a chance to experience the community spirit of watching fireworks on a blanket at the park with a picnic basket.

It's time to rebuild our sense of community, and to experience a more fulfilling, more meaningful life.