How important is “community” to anyone of any age? Last night, my mind would not turn off, and I saw that almost everything we did for children beginning in 1947 had something to do with building community. This meant activities, safety, listening, storytelling, and simply seeing to their needs.
In Southern California, while I was a full-time student at UCLA, our Day Camp, Purple Sage, created a community for up to 400 children and 100 staff. I did not see or understand this aspect then and for many years to come. However, today I know this is what we did. Then, fun, learning, safety, and relationships were always front and center.
So now, as I ponder the concept of community and what it entails, I realize that it resulted from how we operated everything we did. We created community at our camps, which today, in my mind, means inclusion, being cared for, and caring for others. Also of considerable importance was ensuring that everyone’s voice had an outlet and was heard and understood, even if not agreed with.
These earlier experiences significantly influenced me when I began to work with professionals, entrepreneurs, and organizations, lowering the pyramid and improving communication.
Dialogue between two or more people is not an issue of, maybe, feeling safer but of knowing you are safe to say what you need and want to say. An essential part of our workshops was to ensure personal safety when expressing one’s opinion. As a result, staff often felt safer at work than at home. And guess what? The safer we feel, the more a part of the “action” we become. That’s what’s community ought to be.
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