The Future Looks Bleak, But Community Is the Silver Lining

Gas prices are going through the roof. There are shortages at the supermarket. Anxiety and depression are on the rise. Not to mention the increasing threat of climate change. 

It’s hard to stay optimistic looking out in the world, but there is a solution, one that we seem to have forgotten the last few generations. What is it?

A return to community.

We’ve talked a lot about the benefits of having a great connection to a community. Those are often focused on how they help us get through our normal everyday struggles and spur each other on to reach our lifelong ambitions. But community is also a support system — and support is something we could all use a little more of these days.

Despite the growing problems in the world, people are more isolated than ever. That isolation is taking its toll. Health experts say long term loneliness is physically akin to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. But the problems go beyond our individual health.

Without a strong community, we don’t have people we can rely on when things get difficult. And when we have the strength and ability to help others, that lack of community means it goes to waste.

Sharing Is Caring (No, Really)

The cynic in all of us reels at the phrase “sharing is caring” — but it is an essential insight into how communities can help us going forward.

Sharing resources, especially in times of need, is one of the most fundamental traits in humans. Scientists have shown that children as young as three years old naturally cooperate and share. So it’s inborn in us to help out when we can.

It’s all part of our care response, which is something we are called to do for members of our community. Remember, a community isn’t just a list of names you know. It’s a network of people who are connected in different ways — each person providing their own unique perspective, strengths, and skills.

And because we are naturally called to use those assets to help others, a community lets us give a lot of help and support without even having to think or plan it. Of course, you can plan to do it, too — but just being in a community will often result in mutual benefit.

We Have the Technology

While communities are on a long decline, the technology needed to quickly build and easily enrich them is more available than ever before.

There are a head-spinning number of ways you can use your smartphone to strengthen real connections and organize get-togethers. You can organize and mobilize groups to do any number of things with one or two apps.

We live in a time where the mental, physical, and spiritual benefits of community are needed desperately. At the same time, we have unprecedented tools to do this. By combining a need with technology, the current crises might accidentally force us into building backout communities.

So yes, things are rough right now, but maybe they need to be to get us to value what was always most important