Rebuilding our Communities
One of the things that I love about living in this area is the strong sense of community in our villages. Our villages are not just places where people happen to stay between days at work; they are communities where we can truly live. In many ways I think our communities are like living things themselves; they need the right sustenance and environment if they are to survive and thrive and they can be harmed and diminished if they are not cared for.
Throughout this last year, the strength of our communities has shown in the way that people have cared for each other through the various lockdowns; looking out for the vulnerable, keeping in touch with those that are shielding, picking up shopping and prescriptions for those that are isolating, and more. In some ways, our communities have been strengthened by the challenges of this last year but in other ways, they have been diminished.
Through technology, we have managed to stay in touch with those to whom we are closest, but the links with our more distant ties, our acquaintances, have declined. Research shows that community (the close friendships we have and our wider network of acquaintances) is vital to our wellbeing and the decline of our connectedness with others is linked with increasing mental health issues.
Sociologist Dr Tracy Brower writes,
We are social animals and our instinct is to find strength in numbers. We appreciate a small circle of people, but need larger circles as well. Our health and happiness are inextricably linked with our connections.
Many people are struggling with the challenge of re-engaging with community. Even if they’ve previously been an outgoing person, they are finding social interactions exhausting.
A recent BBC News article by Kirsty Grant refers to what some people call a ‘social hangover’; a feeling of exhaustion after any social interaction. We all have a comfort zone and when we do things within that zone we feel fine, but when we step out of that zone and do something different we get stressed and that can be tiring. Successive lockdowns have shrunk our social comfort zone and as we begin to engage with social activities again, the stress of engaging in the now unfamiliar activity is tiring. The good news is that this feeling won’t last forever and as we gradually engage more socially, our comfort zones grow, and we find it easier to be with others. However, please be gentle with yourself in this process!
This is good news for us and good news for our communities… because social activity is one of the things that builds our network of friends and acquaintances, and so helps the wellbeing of our communities as well as ourselves.
The lack of connection in this last year has diminished our sense of community and one of the tasks we have as we emerge from lockdown is to re-establish connection, strengthen old friendships, and make new ones. As well as helping our own wellbeing, these connections help to heal our community.
I think that this is one of the reasons that St Paul exhorted the church in Rome to ‘pursue hospitality’. The church was facing persecution from many different angles and it would have been easy to retreat and hide. Paul didn’t just say ‘be hospitable’ he challenged them to pursue hospitality; chase it down, make it happen.
We all benefit from being part of a strong community, our mental and physical health are all better for being part of strong and capable communities. However, a community like that does not just happen. It needs people who will invest in community, who will serve and help those around them, who will engage in the activities and organisations that help to strengthen old friendships and build new ones.
In practical terms that might be as simple as making the effort to say good morning to the people we pass on the street (whether or not we know them), taking the chance to meet up with friends (in a covid secure way), taking part in the many Covid secure events that are being organised across the area, or even joining in to help some of the organisations that are working to make these events happen.
As we emerge from this lockdown, I pray that we will all play our part in helping to heal our community; helping our villages to return to the welcoming, thriving places that they were before the pandemic and all the stronger having been through the experience together.
Rev Barry Jackson