It seems these days, perhaps because there is so much more news, we seem to experience tragedy almost daily.
In some ways, sadly, we have lost our sensitivity, we have become numb.
Tragedy has unfortunately become the gray noise in the background, things that fill the editorial content calendars of all the 24-hour news desks around the globe; tsunamis, earthquakes, school shootings, wildfires, wars, mass casualty events of every sort.
It’s someone else’s problem.
But it isn’t really, if you are involved.
What does that mean, involved?
Does it mean that you know someone who is experiencing this trauma?
You are related to someone, you knew them once, you’ve met them, or maybe you’ve just heard of them?
Maybe there’s a kinship, something you’ve done or experienced , just like the person who’s lost everything or been injured.
It makes a difference when you are involved. It makes you pause.
We are all individuals who seek to differentiate ourselves. Clothes, accessories, material goods, jobs, tattoos, friends, homes, cars, and so much more, these are the symbols of status, but also the symbols of definition and difference.
Who you are, or who you are not.
To be the same as someone else in our minds is to be branded insignificant, so in our quest to be significant, we accumulate and connect with material items and statements of individuality.
But material goods fade, and so in turn require renewed emphasis on the next item of business, a never-ending quest.
However, when we realize that our growth as an individual within a community, and our contribution to that community is the secret sauce of fulfillment, that’s when things get interesting.
This is where many philanthropists get it wrong.
The person who espouses to be giving away so much wealth in order to help the underprivileged is often left empty and filling the void with still more donations.
Ultimately the truth of a philanthropic life is giving back to the community with whom you are connected. Establishing a path of contribution and an alignment with real human connection is the ticket.
The unfettered love of community is the anchor in our lives, at least for those of us fortunate to have a community around us.
Much of this is the centre point of the success of Facebook, where anyone who wants to, can create a community of connection.
Facebook provides the soil for community when used well. But it has also, along with much of social media, created the side effect of isolation.
We are alone in our community instead of truly connected to it. We now live in virtual communities where there is emotional and intellectual connection, but what seems to be missing is the true mutual suffering and success that used to occur in physical communities.
Physical community is the real deal!
When people suffer and succeed together, build and create together, support one another, and take turns doing so, a bond is forged that is empowering. It empowers each individual to reach higher, or to overcome adversities that alone may seem impossible.
That is the power of real community.
As we see these days, when tragedy occurs, the communities where there are deep roots of connection are the ones that somehow find the silver lining of “one for all”.
It doesn’t replace the lost and injured, but consoles the pain and suffering of the moment, and the moments to come.
We are better when we are part of a community, individual in our character and aspirations, but aligned on our connection and what matters to us all.