You Belong

The power of community.

I have always been delighted by the names of groups of animals. We all know about schools of fish, flocks of birds, and herds of cows. From there, we get into some creative naming.

A charm of goldfinches. A cloud of grasshoppers. A bloat of hippopotami. A shadow of jaguars. A leap of leopards. A conspiracy of lemurs. A prickle of porcupines. A shiver of sharks. A wisdom of wombats.

We humans are members of multiple communities. We may identify with our geographical community first. We are citizens of humanity, a country, a state, and a city. We may be part of a church, special interest group, or political party. Maybe we belong to a club or gym. But we can get creative with our communities, too. A group of men raced lawnmowers in a small town in the English countryside. The idea spread and local lawnmower racing clubs launched all over the world. They write a blog now. It’s named The Cutting Edge. There is a club for people named Kevin at the University of Michigan. I was once a member of a Pencil of the Month Club. Maybe you are in a group text or two? That is certainly a community.

Early in the pandemic, I was asked to teach a yoga class on Zoom for a group of people with a shared medical diagnosis. Almost five years later, the class is still going strong. I have not met a single member of this group in person- not even the woman who facilitates it and keeps it running. It is one of the strongest, kindest, and most supportive communities that I am lucky to be a part of. Members of this group come together every week to check in with one another and get stronger together. It’s inspiring.

Communities can also be temporary, like people in a subway car or elevator. You are a group of strangers, all moving in the same direction but for different purposes. You may not see these people again. What if you and this transient community are in an elevator that gets stuck between floors? How would you treat the other people? What role would you play? What would people remember about you?

We may never be in this exact situation but we have all been confronted with unexpected events and have had to choose to say, either walk on by, stop and help, or get out your phone to call for assistance or to document. Hopefully, these emergencies bring out the best in us.