{"id":243,"date":"2013-04-02T19:17:44","date_gmt":"2013-04-03T01:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ainellewellyn\/?p=243"},"modified":"2013-04-02T19:17:44","modified_gmt":"2013-04-03T01:17:44","slug":"community-community-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ainellewellyn\/2013\/04\/community-community-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Community Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

There have been a lot of posts about community lately, including a few that missed the mark entirely (and won\u2019t be linked to, as the level of vitriol contained in them is revolting and shouldn\u2019t be shared). I\u2019ll link to a few below, but they really are endless.<\/p>\n

I have a community. There are a people that I talk to everyday and hang out with and laugh with and share silly videos with, people who I can talk about the gods and spirits and worry over religious matters with. None of them follow the same path I do. I don\u2019t always have the context for revelations that make them excited. But when they stumble on new research, I still celebrate with them. We rant to each other. We laugh with each other. We try to make sense of weird happenings both in waking life and spiritually. I don\u2019t know what I would do without them.<\/p>\n

I would really like to have that physically.<\/p>\n

I would like it, but I don\u2019t need it. I\u2019m hoping to develop it, but not yet. I\u2019ve got ideas and big hopes, but we\u2019ll see. I may be more cut out for just finding a few friends and giggling together with them and working, for the most part, on my own. I definitely don\u2019t want to be involved with any local groups at the moment.<\/p>\n

Contrary to what some say, you can coexist without giving up your individuality.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ultimately, all I need is the spirits I serve and a book to write my experiences in. That would get stifling, being unable to share my experiences, but my path is about the spirits and gods first, and doing work for them, and until they push the community issue I\u2019m content with the friends I have. The friends I trust and love and confide in. I don\u2019t need more than that, and I\u2019m not ready to help with anything more than that honestly. I have to work out my own ego issues and figure out how to tame my tongue a bit better around people I find repulsive. After all, in a community we often end up with people we dislike but have to deal with on some level, and we have to clamp down and get work done for the good of all of us rather than spatting.<\/p>\n

(That\u2019s really what I\u2019m having trouble with right now, and I have to remind myself that even if I<\/em> think someone is damaging the community, others don\u2019t, and my opinion is not law.)<\/p>\n

Sometimes I feel like I\u2019ll bite through my tongue from holding myself back, but I know ultimately that is worth it. Not that I always hold my tongue \u2013 I often speak sharply and cruelly before catching myself, and I used to speak with as much vitriol as is common in certain online areas \u2013 but I try. I have to remember when a group or person is worth the effort of an argument, disagreement, or dialog. I have a low tolerance for people that don\u2019t question themselves or each other and form packs of rabid dogs, which is why I tend to drift. I spent my time as a hungry animal wanting nothing more than to tear someone apart. I\u2019m no longer that.<\/p>\n

I want people I can talk to, and I found those people.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s enough for me, right now.<\/p>\n

When I have the patience, when I have the willingness, when I have the time, I\u2019ll start thinking about a physical community. I\u2019ll start thinking about it and exploring that option and figuring out how to build with others something that will last (hopefully) so that people who come later will have a structure. Have a support. We do have supports and groups, but so many of them are in shambles or claim openness while being closed or are very specific (which is not bad, but is limiting). I don\u2019t feel ready to do much now, but someday I will. I\u2019m grateful for the community I have, the people I know, the voices that comfort and challenge me.<\/p>\n

Community takes time. It takes some cultivation. It also takes being willing to accept the unexpected \u2013 and possibly rethink what we expect and need from the communities we want. Community is like a garden, and sometimes plants have to go, and sometimes you\u2019ve got to tinker with the soil and sometimes it just doesn\u2019t work and you can\u2019t help that. But communities serve and support, and if we can\u2019t set ourselves down and really do that, really think beyond ourselves and our egos \u2013 get ready tumblr, I\u2019m going to say words that make you shriek \u2013 we\u2019re doing it wrong.<\/p>\n

Community Posts:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n