On The Importance of Community

(Apologies in advance for a long post. February has been INSANE!)

February has had me thinking. Really hard. With the exciting release of my first book "Carefree, Like Me: Chapter 1: Root the Brave" I've been mulling over the concept of the fairytale of the "American Dream". You know the one. The lone hero who pulls him or herself up by the bootstraps, gets it done through grit, hard work, sweat, determination and their steely will alone. Though I do concede that dreams are made with hard work, I cannot forego the amount of community support I've had in getting me here. The concept of the lone ranger sounds nice, but it's totally unrealistic. I really dislike the notion of the lone worker, because no one becomes great in isolation. Did your caretaker/guardian/parent not birth or raise you, feed you, care for you, love you? Did not one person show you kindness in order to make it through a rough day? Was there not a friend or stranger who smiled when everything else in the world seemed to be too much? I reject that notion wholeheartedly and instead embrace the concept of community; the community embracing one's individual gifts and supporting the individual ultimately in support of the whole.