A Balanced Approach to Wellness!

Posts tagged ‘community’

Communal Involvement

 

be involved

Each person is capable of affecting the community in which he or she lives; each community is a reflection of accumulated actions; and the sum of the efforts and actions influence the future inhabitants of the community.  All actions made in a positive manner uplift the community…” These words from the “Introduction” in “Pond a Connected Existence” remind us of the importance of communal participation.

Communal involvement is olog-ful. An olog is a new descriptive method for describing relationships mathematically. Communal involvement is relationship possibility realized. Each community effort contains objectives and means to the objectives that beckon people in varying numbers and with varying purposes. The development of and continued need for communal efforts require awareness by community members who are available and willing to act. The connection of one communal effort with another communal effort is achieved through preservation of each individual effort while recognizing the requirements of other communal efforts.

In other words, a community has various needs that are ever-changing and that differ in importance. The elderly need to be cared for, as do the teenagers. The animals require attention and so does the regional government. Trees and plants give shade and beauty, and they require upkeep and protection. The poor must be seen and the recycling must be gathered. Each person in a community can participate in an endless number of community efforts, and the more each person does, the more the community radiates warmth and support.

Affect is the goal for each community member. Caring for self and caring for others. Acknowledging needs and addressing them. Connecting with people, relating to the environment, tending to animals. Developing oneself through the attention to community.

Relationships develop when communal involvement occurs. These relationships sustain and uplift when times are difficult or saddening. When a community has mixing of peoples of all ages and ideas, the community is enriched and the people are support for one another. Searching out ways to better the community sustains its members and leads to more satisfying living.

In societies that exist within large metropolitan areas, the importance of communal involvement grows. Rather than be anonymous in these large settings, people must find connections that nurture the feeling of community and shared experiences.

This blog post is from the book, Exploring Energy Guidance Complete, My Journey. The book is available on amazon.com:  https://amzn.com/1508539715cover for Exploring EGC

Bringing Personal Change through Adjusting Relationships with Others

Cover-Contracts for an exemplary life

Often when we think about making changes in our life we think about personal goals like losing weight or getting organized. Personal goals are thought to bring us the most change.

How about looking at bringing personal change from a different direction–from bringing change through our relationships with others, rather than from change just within ourselves.

Contracts for an Exemplary Life offers ideas for bringing change through Me-with-Others contracts. Here are examples of Me-with-Others contract goals:

  • nourishing friendships
  • criticizing people less
  • treating service people with kindness
  • volunteering at a shelter, food kitchen, or facility for the elderly
  • attending communal events
  • being neighborly
  • developing a community
  • (for those with children) educating children about how to treat other people

By focusing on the relationship with others, personal growth can take place alongside the stated goals. The others focus naturally affects us in positive and nourishing ways.

Contracts for an Exemplary Life contains twelve examples of Me-with-Others contracts. There are also many examples of personal contracts, contracts to affect family relationships, and contracts for improving yourself through your relationship with the environment.

Contracts for an Exemplary Life—Using Contracts to Achieve Your Goals contains help for people who want to bring change. Contracts for an Exemplary Life is available on amazon.com: http://amzn.com/1518880746

Expanding Roots

Post 14-environment

People were meant to root like plants, to stay attached to the area in which they were born and attached to the people living around them. People are adjustable, though, and when events happen to uproot them they can adapt to new environments and different ways of functioning.

How do these facts relate to the modern world of less attachment to one place and movement from place to place?

Rootedness is an internal, deep characteristic that can’t be ignored. Rootedness is a mechanism for developing physically and emotionally. Rootedness contributes to feelings of security and the ability to identify expressions, such as expressions of concern and disdain. When a person feels rooted, the displays of personal responsibility are more frequent.

How to increase development of rootedness

  • If you live in an area that is very different from where you lived as a child, aim to create a network of support that provides emotional support and intellectual stimulation.
  • If you live in an area that is similar to where you grew up, aim to create a network of support that challenges you to be involved and influential.
  • If you live in an area that you dislike, create a “What I like about this place” tour and aim to find positive aspects of your location.
  • If you move from place to place, aim to develop relationships at local businesses, religious institutions, and organizations that are similar to ones you were active in in the past or do work that appeals to you. At each place, strive to build friendships, even if they are temporary.
  • If you live where you grew up, take part in the running of the city/town/community. Allow new residents into your network of support.

Personal responsibility through rootedness

When a person feels a sense of responsibility towards a place, natural desire to take part in its care usually occurs. People who are connected to their community tend to involve themselves in communal betterment and social networks. These connections contribute to well-being and health. When a person feels rooted, personal actions take on larger significance and personal contributions to the community are felt. Involvement in outside-of-one’s-own interests brings satisfaction that contributes to balance—balance of the person and balance in the community. Feelings of attachment to a place, whether through birth or through choice, brings gifts that are not often realized.

Wherever we live, we do good for ourselves when we send out roots.

Apartment/Flat living

People

(Before I start writing this post, I want to answer a question that many people ask me about the authorship of the posts. All of the information in this website, each and every word, is received from Spiritual Presence. I ask the questions that lead to the information, but the information is not from me nor from my intuition. People who know me will agree that the wisdom presented in this post is definitely not from me. I was raised to appreciate houses and not apartments. I am learning from this post just like other readers.)

In the past societies, people lived in separate homes. Depending upon population sizes, the homes were close enough for people to connect with one another when help was needed or to build communal relationships. Living was based in the homes, but environmental conditions and societal norms brought people together often. Neighbors knew one another and knew enough about each other’s lives to offer assistance. Modern living creates very different societal arrangements.

Because of air conditioning and heating, technological advances in storing and maintaining food and information (computers, TV, sound systems, etc.), and individualized and isolating transportation (private cars and vehicles), people are insulated from each other. Opportunities to connect with neighbors and nearby dwellers are few. The connections that once were easy to make are less likely to occur. Each family or individual or group of individuals is separated in a single dwelling. Connection requires special circumstances and effort. Many people never meet their neighbors and have no sense of a community. This situation is unbalancing.

Apartments/flats in a building that houses people with doorways facing each other present the opportunity to connect. Communal gardens, stairwells, halls, and other features create opportunities for meeting. Communal ownership of building resources forces communal communication. When the dwellers are the owners or are long-term renters, they tend to care more about their neighbors.

Apartment/flat dwelling is generally easier on the environment. Living alongside other people is less taxing on resources and upkeep. Combined efforts reduce time spent on decorative aspects of home ownership.

When children are raised in apartment/flat settings, there is “it takes a village to raise a child” mentality among the neighbors. If the adults are aware of their responsibility to oversee other children and the parents are aware of the great impact that interaction with other adults can have on their children, then the child-rearing can be easier on the parents, can add to the children’s sense of security, and can enrich the lives of the people not raising children themselves.

Communal interactions do not necessarily occur if the people living in apartments/flats are determined to separate themselves. The accoutrements of modern living enable people to live separately without building connections and without opening to the benefits of connected living. Awareness of the importance of involvement in the lives of neighbors can overcome the attraction of anonymous living.

Environmental conditions and societal norms no longer bring people together. Living in closer physical proximity does not bring people together; however, apartment/flat living can contribute to the sense of connected existence. For people who do not live apartmentally, extra effort must be made to connect to neighbors and community members.

People are meant to help one another and to receive from one another information, companionship, and entertainment. Interactions in person are the best forms of people-connecting. Modern living can deter in-person interactions, and determined efforts are needed to counter this effect. Living in grouped arrangements, like apartments/flats that face one another is one solution.

Finding refuge wherever you go

Post 69-People

Temporarily, I am a resident of Los Angeles. I have found “my” local cafe. I have found “my” favorite chocolate shop. I have met a few neighbors. I have explored the surrounding neighborhoods on foot. I have shopped at the local farmers’ market. I have made my temporariness feel more settled. Even though I will live here for a short time, I have created a sense of belonging for myself, and this belongingness is the subject of my post.

~~~

Belongingness is a natural, inborn need of all people. Living in family units, creating communities, allying with specific schools or sports teams or religious institutions are examples of the need for belongingness. Being a part of, needed by, and together with are the fundamental requirements of people. Not being part of or needed by or together with goes against human nature. Living life aloofly is simply not natural.

People who live in small communities have a natural tendency to connect. People who live in large cities connect depending on their awareness of the need to connect. People who move from place to place sometimes lose the drive to connect after too many upheavals. The less they connect, the more they need the connections.

Finding refuge wherever you go.

No matter where we are living, we must find people to talk to and to connect with. We must seek out community and we must open to involvement possibilities. We must join and we must be willing to go beyond our own self-interested view. The more we give of ourselves, the more we receive.

~~~

Even temporary living arrangements require connection and involvement. Slowly, I am creating these essential ingredients for my soulful nourishment.

The interwovenness of society

Community involvement

“… a community has various needs that are ever-changing and that differ in importance. The elderly need to be cared for, as do the teenagers. The animals require attention and so does the regional government. Trees and plants give shade and beauty, and they require upkeep and protection. The poor must be seen, and the recycling must be gathered. Each person in a community can participate in an endless number of community efforts, and the more each person does, the more the community radiates warmth and support.

Affect is the goal for each community member. Caring for self and caring for others. Acknowledging needs and addressing them. Connecting with people, relating to the environment, tending to animals. Developing oneself through the attention to community.”

-from Exploring Energy Guidance Complete, My Journey, the book I am currently writing

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