Modern and Meaningful Community
I firmly believe that the only way we can positively emerge from the Covid-19 crisis is through modern and meaningful community.
What do I mean by this? Well, let's consider an example of thriving communities of the past in Canada: religious institutions.
By way of disclosure, I would consider myself non-religious. While I have no animus towards believers, I have an aversion towards many tenets of the major religions in particular and I don't have any love for "new age" either. However, in the increasing secularization of society which I have participated in, there has been a bit of a blind spot: for those who take the secular route, how do we continue to build values-based, purpose-driven community?
As human-beings, we crave this sort of community and belonging in order to thrive - no matter how independent one might be. We crave community and yet we seem to have rid ourselves of the previous versions of community we know. It is important to note that the very use of the word "community" of late seems to have a negative correlation with the presence of what any reasonable person would consider a community - lots of rhetoric, not a lot of substance. Admittedly, I have been guilty of stretching the term from time to time as well. Something we can take from this trend though is that there is a deep desire to form community, and a big demand for people to build it.
This is a challenge we have decided to take on at Our Better Selves. From the beginning, centering community was always part of the approach I wanted to take, however, I needed to learn through trial and error what community was and was not.
Our Better Selves aspires to create a vibrant, values-driven, purpose-led community of folks - common in certain values, and diverse in every other sense of the term. A community driven by service and impact aligned with our individual values and passions. We will go far by going together.
The building of community beyond Our Better Selves matters as well. So, our approach is not zero-sum. We seek to build our community, and help the thriving of other communities which align with our vision and mission. Zero-sum games are not what gets out of this crisis.
I don't profess to have all the answers, nor do I expect to have all the answers at any point. I intend to keep learning as I go, and correcting my mistakes as they inevitably arise. I see myself as the catalyst of this community, not the dictator.
Among many other challenges that we seek to take on through Our Better Selves, the issue of social cohesion and trust is one that bubbles near the top. I am a big believer in how fundamental these things are to almost everything else we do as a society. While our community will never span the whole or even the majority of our country (let alone the world), our influence will undoubtedly be outsized. This mission is something that keeps me going everyday, especially during this crisis.