community is about sharing, communing, communicating. community is where we find sisters and brothers. it is where we can derive meaning, creativity and connection.
this community may be small…a few friends…or it may be larger…a spiritually aligned group. at its farthest extent we find ourselves in the community of the universe and then in the community of this planet. this is where we can find spaciousness and wholeness.
elders in community can be a powerful force for transformation. we have, as a group, the ability to change the prevailing narrative, about ageing, dying and death, about life itself. by gathering together we pool our resources.
recently i found myself in a group that, collectively, had over five centuries of life experience. that, in itself, is remarkable and contains intelligence and wisdom, practical knowledge and inner understanding. when we gather in community, listening deeply to one another, we are able to speak to that which would deny us, deride us and ignore us.
we can, together, make noise and be heard. after all, it was those of us who are now in our late 60s and mid-70s who did change the world. we began what were then considered difficult conversations that are now continuing to unfold…menopause, sexual freedom, consciousness expansion, human rights, care for the planet, organic growing methods, alternative ways of living.
harnessing our community power and wisdom we can continue to change the world. we can re-instate respect for elders by recognising our own elderhood. we can continue to model that elderhood as a valuable, essential life phase. we can continue to unfold the difficult conversations about ageing, about the daily process of dying and about the transition from life to death.
harnessing our community power and wisdom we can continue to learn, to grow, to evolve individually and as/within our various communities.
take a moment now to connect with the communities in which you live…the virtual ones as well as the intimate, personal ones. suddenly we are in community with people across the globe, reminding us that we hold the planet in our hands.
and, that as the human community, we are responsible.