I find Gracy Olmstead to be a thoughtful, articulate writer, and I always find something interesting in her blog posts. Last week, she posted a wonderful article about the ways in which community has broken down in America, and considers how communities are built and function together.
She writes:
"It seems that oftentimes, we give up community out of a desire for greater space, greater financial stability, a better job situation. But, as Roberts puts it, “we are meant to have tribes, to be among people who know us and care about us.” As our jobs increasingly carry us away from the neighborhood, and our reliance upon the car grows steadily, it may be that a simple dedication to staying put can help community grow. Because while our rootlessness often results in greater space, it can also compromise or neglect our deeper need for place: for a sense of home, and community."
~Gracy Olmstead, Space or Place? American Conservative Blog, October 29, 2015
Any long time reader of this blog will know that I often struggle with the limitations of raising a large-ish family in a small Victorian row home in the middle of a large city. How I sometimes long to be able to send the kids out the door into the back yard (we don't have one), or to be able to pull our car into the garage next to the house (we park on the street, often several blocks away from our home). To have some distance between the general ick that is the city street. These things would make our lives more comfortable, easier, but we would lose what Olmstead refers to as the "spontaneous encounter." I can't count how often I run into a neighbor or a friend on the street and have a conversation. Those encounters are very valuable, as they build up social capital, and strengthen the ties of our local community in largely intangible ways.
We've been in this house for eight years now, and it is the longest I've ever lived anywhere, ever. Rod Dreher has written at length about how difficult it is for us modern Americans to stay in place, to put our feet down and really plant into the ground where we are. The transient nature of our lives is perhaps the defining characteristic of post modern society. It doesn't make for easy community.
When I am tempted to see greener grass in the suburbs or the countryside, I am reminded that we have a good life here--one where I can walk the kids to school, and my husband can bike to work. Our pediatrician is a seven minute walk from the house, and the children's hospital a 15 minute cab ride. We have a good park less than three blocks away, and several more that are an easy walk. We are walking distance to several grocery stores, and many other small bodegas in between. We know almost all our neighbors, and relations on our block are generally cordial and helpful. For all that living in the city and raising a family is sometimes difficult, we are very blessed.
There is a messiness to engaging with the seething masses of humanity, of building community amongst different sorts of people, but I think it is a good work in the end.
This resonated with me, though I do live in the country. We expected to stay in Jordanville for "only one more year," a year that kept getting pushed back. Eventually we looked around and saw it had become our home. I imagine we will eventually have to move on, but it feels so good to push roots down and build up community instead of cobbling together an exit strategy.
ReplyDeleteYes, exactly. I think resisting the urge for an exit strategy is the key to putting your feet on the ground, for however long. Best not to contemplate moving on unless it becomes a reality.
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