Better the Community

This weeks reading really got me thinking about how this world can be so negative all the time. How there is always a scapegoat, how people don’t have enough trust and how we really need to start changing the way we view things. We need to have a more positive outlook on life, with that; I feel that our communities and the world in general would be better off.
Who is considered to be apart of a community? Is it the people who live there, the people who work there or go to school there, is there a real answer to this? Well, I think it’s the people who positively contribute to the community. As I was reading the Block book, I was really taken aback by the philosophy on “gifts”. I know I mentioned this in last week’s blog, but it still stays with me this week. I think that a lot of what a community is built upon, is what the people of that community contribute to it. This weeks reading, stated something that I never really realized until I saw the words put right in front of me. Community deals with fear. A main reason being today’s media. One could never turn on the TV and see something positive happening in their community. It is always about a problem and if there are no problems in that particular community it shows the problems of outside communities, or worldwide issues. I would like to turn on the TV and see the positive outcomes that communities are reaching, not who got murdered the other night and that the killer has still not been prosecuted. Why show all the problems, why not show the solutions to those problems.
Now with problems, I think communities have a whole other issue there. I think it’s true when Block says that when a community is confronted with a problem, the first thing that happens is they look for someone to blame. They think well here’s a problem someone must have caused it. Why put the blame on someone, why not work together in finding a solution for that problem. No one ever got ahead by blaming someone, your only delaying the process of finding a solution.
In the article I read this week, it discussed how to get people involved and participating in the community. The main topic they discussed was CONVERSATION. I think this is SO important in building a strong community. Talk to each other, listen to each other, brainstorm together and bring a positive outcome to the table. Build relationships within your community.
Back to who belongs to a community, well I guess there can be different opinions on it, but I stand strong on mine when I say that whoever contributes to a community is part of that community. I think that for a community to be strong, the people in that community have to have an open mind about outsiders joining their community. They need to learn to trust. If you don’t give the person a chance, how will you ever know what could have happened. Maybe the next person who works in your community could be the next person to turn it back around and give the community exactly what it needs.
Basically all I’m saying is that a community should be open to changes, to ideas and should always have a positive spin on things. No one gets anywhere by living in fear and by picking a scapegoat. Get together, get involved and better your community, because if you better things for your community, your bettering things for yourself, and lets face it, most people do things to benefit themselves. So if you won’t work hard for your communities at least do it for yourself.