Bubbling ideas on community

So sadly this time last week my Grandpa died.  And the journey through grief is a strange one.  As well as times of deep sadness; the challenges of explaining death to a 3 year old; normal life continuing and a few days away to look after some pigs, sheep and chickens; the past week has also had my mind buzzing with ideas.  I'm not sure I'd necessarily put it down to a 'seize life while you have it' thought, but it does feel like a shift is happening.  Lots of small ideas I've had bubbling for ages, seem to be coming to the front of my mind a lot more, and I'm struggling to hold back and not just get on with things.

So what am I going on about...

I believe that we were made to be in community and living our lives with others is a really rich life experience.  When we lived in North End, and before kids, we used to have foreign students living with us, as well as a lodger, and there were so many things that I loved about living with a wider group of individuals.

I also know that we have ended up in the house in Southsea for a reason.  And I've had a few different experiences throughout my life of living in developping or deprived areas, and in all these places community seemed much more visable/graspable.  Needs were far more obvious and it was simply far easier to get connected with our neighbours.  Where we live now is not a deprived ward (although there are some obvious pockets of 'need' close by); has quite a mix of people; and everyone seems very nice (which of course there is nothing wrong with).  But I feel we could be far more creative, far more linked locally, source more things locally, have more power collectively to influence things, share far more things, care far more for each other...and find far more richness in connecting with our neighbours.

I'm aware of loads of examples of community and neighbourhood development/building in areas of the city/country and world where there are far more evident basic needs...but not aware of it so much in the more affluent areas.  But we're missing out on so much!  So although we know lots of lovely people around us, and share a lot of our lives with many of them, I am really hungering for more.

I've had a variety of ideas germinating over the past months, and I'm feeling the need to stop thinking and start doing, to see if there is life in the ideas.  (And I should note that these aren't all my ideas, but many have come through conversations with others...don't want to take the credit, but happy to take responsibility for the mistakes).

So to give you a flavour:

• how do we connect with those that live in the care home on our street
• how do we connect with the students that arrive in the neighbourhood each year
• how do we connect with people behind our closed front doors...does anyone else want to connect more? (especially in this madly busy world)
• could we do a 'Big Lunch' in the park next year?
• how can we use some of the websites available to connect people and their skills and possessions in the neighbouring streets?
• how do we get a better picture of the 'Wimbledon Park Patch'?
• is there any mileage in buying in a co-operative format for organic staple goods?
• how do we help build up our local shops (do we really want them to die off and just have mass chains...aren't we proud of our local independents)....worth looking at 'Independents' Day in Portsmouth next year?
• are there better places to bank with?  Local credit unions/building societies?
• as Government decreases, how can we empower ourselves to solve some local problems and not always expect someone else to sort it out?
• would some kind of flexible cafe work in the park to attract more people to hang-out and connect (cross-generationally)
• what can we do locally to recycle and compost more?

 Wow...that's quite terrifying when I read that back!

(Tonight I've set up a Facebook group 'Wimbledon Park Patch' and am going to try and connect as many people in the area into that as possible to start with and test some ideas...let me know if you want to join). 

I've been really encouraged by the July readings in 'Common Prayer - a liturgy for ordinary radicals'....here's just a bit from the month's introduction:

So much of our culture is built around moving away from people rather than closer to them.  In many of the wealthiest coutnries in the world, we have lost the sense of a village.  And we have some of the highest rates of home ownership and some of the highest rates of depression.  We are some of the wealthiest and loneliest societies the world has ever seen.  We live in a mobile culture in which people are used to moving every few years, and in which many folks will uproot without question to move for a higher-paying job.

Commitment to a people and a place is one of the countercultural values at the heart of the gospel.  It means recapturing the notion of the parish, a word which shares a root with parochial, meaning 'localised and particular'.  Many folks today are learning from village cultures, where people often have fewer resources but more life and joy.

Movements of new urbanism are helping to cultivate spaces for shared lives.  People in one cul-de-sac began to rethink suburban sprawl and started sharing stuff.  They decided each home didn't need a washer and dryer and a lawn mower.  So one family agreed to have the laundry machines, and another had all the lawn equipment, and so on.  Before long, they were homeschooling their kids together and providing hospitality to the homeless with all the energy and resources that were freed up by sharing. When people make choices like these, life starts to look like a village, and a village is a beautiful thing.

So I not sure if I'll end up just being known as some mad local woman, but I think the ideas have been bubbling for too long now, and not having the time is just not good enough anymore!


So watch this space...and if you've read this, feel free to comment if you do have any thoughts/wisdom/ideas or home truths to tell me ;-)