Community Member Perspective

In the book Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman there are many different characters, and even some of them cross paths. A community garden was started in Cleveland Ohio just by one person therefore everyone follows. They all learn how to get along with other people, how to not stereotype so much, and how to depend on each other in their community. All of them struggle with something, whether it's with family, friends, or feeling stereotyped. They learn the importance of a community, and realize how much they really depend on each other. Seedfolks shows that having a community is important for all people to incorporate diversity, culture,and unique stories into their lives. You don't realize how much people depend on their community until its gone. The importance of a community is shown through the characters and shown by how they act, what they say, overall how they are perceived by other people.

Communities play an essential role in the development of the self and learning about the stranger. Through communities, individuals are able to socialize and gain a greater understanding of each other. A community can be defined in many different ways based on every individual’s experience with it. Developing a strong community takes time. Some people, like Jeannette Walls, do not have the opportunity to develop strong communities throughout their childhood.

A community to me is people coming together and becoming united to help better the environment and the geography around them. Interpersonal relationships play an especially important role. This group’s relationship binds people together with the social glue of concord this means that relationships are viewed as real, organic and ends in themselves. People feel connected to others because they feel a unity of spirit and personal connection. Relationships are core

A community is a place where people around supposed to be able to live and thrive together. When one thinks of a community, the image that most likely is visualized is one of a place where each person lives harmoniously with all the other members of that community. While this may be the typical image of a community, it is not the realistic view. In reality communities can share both good and bad aspects. In Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century Peter Dreier, John Mollenkopf, and Todd Swanstrom make the argument that the place a person lives ultimately matters over all else; the place which a person lives effects the choices that that he/she makes and determines his/her ability to obtain a

In the essay written by Catherine Latterell , she presented us with three assumptions about how we perceive a community.

First, community is our “home.” We have been living in a community ever since we were just little babies and it has always influenced us. Communities have played a big part in who we are today. We start off in school not knowing anyone or anything and as you get older you begin to think about the

Communities play an essential role in the development of the self and learning about the stranger. Through communities, individuals are able to socialize and create a greater understanding of each other. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls describes the community of which she felt most part of during her childhood. Walls says, “. . .

I’m from a town where everyone knows everyone. My sense of place and connection lies within my hometown. The citizens of Yuba City constitute my community. I was born and raised in this farm town and I love every square mile of it. I identify with the people of Yuba City as my community because we all share love and compassion for this town. To me Yuba City isn’t just a small rural town, but it is the place that forged and crafted me into the person I am today.

5. What does living in community expose in our lives and why is this important to our spiritual formation?

In class we have been discussing the analogy of perspectives. A perspective is a way of seeing, also thought of as a ‘point of view’. This mental view or outlook can both enhance and constrain how we view the world in our own eyes. In the field of psychology and sociology there are many ways to perceive our world in which we live. No one perspective alone can define the world. Each perspective has its own distinctive strengths and blind spots. In class we have discussed different theories and analogies to better understand the complexity of perspectives.

I never saw the term community as being important before this semester. After taking this course I have realized that community is not as simple as the people living around you. Community is not limited to location, it’s also based on your lifestyle, religion, culture, education, and abilities. Learning about different communities and what makes them a community was interesting. Communities are part of everyday life and have positive affects on the individuals involved. The most intriguing communities we studied and learned about were the jewish community in Trent 1475 and the prevocational community at Kalix. These two communities stood out the most to me and I enjoyed learning about them both throughout the course.

unique perspectives will differ in how they view the nature of a social problem. The

Another great example where the author uses the community as a way to describe the setting comes from the overarching theme of reputation within its members. Despite previously stating how the members of

As diverse characters of the planet, we entirely perceive our surroundings through our very own paradigm, which is shaped based on identity. When seeing the world through a paradigm one is effectively viewing and interpreting through a certain filter. For example, if a scientist is observing an art piece, he may not be able to perceive it through the artist’s paradigm and in order to be a critic of the art, he must understand what the illustrator is trying to portray. Because art can vary from a detailed painting in such dull colors to a bright coloured rectangle, and to look at it through a scientific paradigm he will not understand the story behind the art piece. This rectangle could represent someone’s entire life, as would the detailed painting. And for one to view it through an extremely different paradigm, they may not see past the ‘pretty picture’ or ‘plain rectangle’.

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members” (Coretta Scott King). A community consists of many individuals and how those individuals act, either alone or together, will determine whether the community will foster or die. Consequently, in order to be an effective individual in my own communities, I believe that being true to myself and really immersing myself is a powerful way to impact any community. For the most part, two of my communities are Providence College and Pasa Esek Hopkins. Reading about great leaders like MLK and Mother Teresa, who advocate for such strong love of neighbor and standing up for beliefs in the face of adversity, is at the focal point of my inspiration. I believe that believing in one’s self is how an individual can shine in their own community.