What I learned from... Community

It has been quite some time since I joined the 'What I learned from...' community. Unfortunately is has also been some time now since I last wrote a piece on one of the subjects...

Although I do not believe in fate... the topic at hand comes at an unbelievably well-timed moment.

Since I last posted there have been quite some changes in my life: my girlfriend (for seven years) has decided to leave me and has taken all of our mutual friends along with her (so far for that community).

Furthermore I decided to switch jobs and by doing so I have effectively replaced my working community for an alternative one.

Now I believe that there are actually two ways to respond to the topic 'what I learned from community'...: 1> What did I learn from being in a community ... and 2> What did I learn from the individuals in the community... It's a slight difference, I agree... but a difference none the less. I will focus on the first question for this post.

What I learned from being in a community

The most important thing I have learned is that I prefer being part of a group to being on my own. Unfortunately I learned this lesson when the community around me dissolved and I felt I needed to find myself a new one. That's true for most of these epiphanies... you don't know what you've got till it's gone... *smile* (they paved paradise and put up a parking lot) ... lol ... I realize there's probably a better version out there but I just really like this one ;-), hope you enjoy it as well...

My working community as well as my personal community have taught me that two know more than one... (at least most of the time)... actually, let me ask just a quick question to all you readers out there... Have you ever been in a situation where you were with someone who just blew you out of the water with a statement you knew in your heart to be so untrue... and you just gave in because the other person seemed to be so sure of him (or her) self that you started doubting yourself? Those situations should be the exception to the rule (or so I hope), because otherwise the opposite would be true and one would know more than two...

This is where it gets complicated... Why? You might ask... Because in order to really and definitely put this discussion to rest we need to define the word 'know', at least within this context.

What I am trying to say here with a lot of words is that it wasn't too long ago when people 'knew' the earth was flat... so there's the dilemma... is what we humans as a collective 'know' considered truth until proven different? Or can we just throw the entire concept of truth out the window? But that's something for an entirely different post...

I'm sticking to the two know more than one for now... I truly believe that the human race is capable of great things... as long as we learn to be interdependent... As infants we are completely dependent on other human beings (most of the time our parents and teachers). As we evolve into adults we let this dependence slide and become independent individuals. Too many people don't evolve any further than that and just remain 'independent' individuals. It is my belief that this has to do mainly with the need for human beings to stay in their comfortzone. Being dependent on other people makes people feel insecure, they want to be the ones to set and control the stage.

Whether you agree or disagree... leave a note telling me... I'm trying to be as interdependent as I can comfortably be ;-)


(This post is part of Middle Zone Musing’s What I Learned From Community group project.)