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Are We in Community?

Treasure Island...Version II, by Aaron EscobarAre we in community together, you and I, even if I don’t know you’re reading this? Even if I don’t know where you are? Even if the sound of your voice remains a mystery to me and you’ll never see my eyes light up when you walk into the room?

Are we in community even if you don’t leave comments on my website or follow me on Twitter or agree with everything I write? Even if you can’t find the way out of your cage? Even if you’ve moved so far beyond me that you’ve disappeared into the distance?

Are we in community even if I never know you?

I believe so.

I think of you often. I think of you lifting your eyes from the computer and looking around at the possibilities. I think of you with concern and fondness and hope.

Flickr photo: Treasure Island / The Island / Lîle Perdu Version II, by Aaron Escobar™.

Related reading: Jenna Avery, The Power of Community

8 Comments

  1. Yes, yes we are. Whenever you write something, you put it out for the Universe to share as knowledge. Whenever someone reads it, that knowledge is transferred to them, linking you with them on a cosmic level. All of us are connected with all of life, and the transmission of knowledge is another one of those connections.

    In such a way, we are connected with each other (you and I), you are connected with all of your readers (even the ones you never meet), and your readers are all connected to each other. A vast community indeed!

    The really cool thing is when you realize that you are also connected with your favorite authors, even if they have been dead for centuries. And their spirits are connected with yours, too. Awesome, isn’t it?

    Friday, March 13, 2009 at 4:24 am | Permalink
  2. jo martin wrote:

    Wow — Jay said what I think — thanks!

    As a P.S. – If that community/sense of community did not exist how would one explain how one can feel so close to, so intimate with cyberfriends? Or have a sense that something, somewhere is wrong with someone you know and love? Or even – how would one feel compassion for the sorrows of people never met?

    Friday, March 13, 2009 at 5:23 am | Permalink
  3. Emily-Sarah wrote:

    Good comments already, so I’ll simply add that we — your readerss — have that same concern, hope, and fondness for you! Isn’t it wonderful (and empowering) to have others, even those “out there” all across the land whom we’ve never met, wishing us well?

    Friday, March 13, 2009 at 6:42 am | Permalink
  4. Yes, I actually have tears in my eyes. I love knowing that you are there, that you are interested in connecting with me and with each other – whether via this website or any other that aims to create positive connections.

    What did we do before the Internet? Oh, right. I would have had about five really sensitive pals, plus a few others I wrote letters to now and again.

    And, yes, it’s great that there are all these layers of connection, including, as you say the spiritual and sensory-based ones.

    I need a Kleenex.

    Friday, March 13, 2009 at 7:56 am | Permalink
  5. Betsy Weinstein wrote:

    Grace, I have been reading your site since late last summer when I finally realized there is nothing wrong with me…I’m just highly sensitive. I love your new format and just wanted to tell you that there are days that I feel you know what is going on in my life and you wrote a message directed right at me. There have been many, many times that I have been left speechless by the ‘coincidence’. Your insight and powerful messages have really helped me rebuild my self-confidence and reclaim the life I am destined to live. Yeah, we are all connected….

    Friday, March 13, 2009 at 11:10 am | Permalink
  6. Betsy,

    I am so glad to hear from you, and thrilled that you’ve been finding more balance over the past months since last summer. I always love the Big Find – like the discovery of high sensitivity – the things that give us such a whallop of perspective that things snap into focus.

    I hope to see you again here. All the best to you.

    Friday, March 13, 2009 at 11:39 am | Permalink
  7. Mollie wrote:

    Dear Grace…see, I address you as I would someone I know! Sharing your sensitive soul in writing, sharing your soul through cyberspace, I feel connected to that, to you, the writer, and maybe even to you, the person! WHO is the ‘writer?’ We are all collectively writing in our hearts…you’re the one who found the way to the sparkling stream, and captured it in colors that speak to us. Yes, I feel connected to you, though I may not know you, and of course, we have a communitiy here–wherever there is heartfelt sharing, there is community. :)

    Monday, August 24, 2009 at 7:48 am | Permalink
  8. Yay us! Thanks for letting me know you’re there, Mollie – though I could feel you there, even so.

    Truly, I’m thankful for the Internet and all the tools we have (for free!) to use to connect with each other. Before the Internet, I did lots of things to connect with people I share a spark with, but it was a different story, a different time, and rather harder.

    Thanks again for all your kind words, for being here.

    Monday, August 24, 2009 at 2:03 pm | Permalink

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