Recently, I was part of a group that was asked to define what community meant to each of us. This seems particularly pertinent, when our country and culture is wracked with difference and strife and today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Understanding the meaning of community or belonging together is more critical than ever. I listened to our definitions and examples and felt that something was missing. I did some research on definitions of ‘community’ and also stumbled on a website about developing communities that features Fabian Pfortmüller, a Swiss entrepreneur and community builder. That website (https://medium.com/@pforti/what-does-community-even-mean-a-definition-attempt-conversation-starter-9b443fc523d0) offers a lot of information and answered some of my questions.
Definition of Community First, no wonder it’s hard to get a handle on the meaning of ‘community.’ The online definition from the Merriam Webster’s website (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community) has three separate sets of definitions, each with subsets of more refined definitions and examples. Not surprisingly, having something, an attribute, a place, a cause, in ’common’ underlies most of the definitions. I ended up feeling that I hadn’t learned much. Some essence of meaning was still missing.
Attributes of Community Pfortmüller confirmed my sense that there is something missing in our thinking about community. Along with saying that our definitions of community are “vague and outdated,” he writes that these necessary components or building blocks, trust and consistency are necessary to create community. He adds that community is a two-way street, it is “co-created and co-owned”. In other words, it is in relationship, a trusting, on-going relationship that community develops and flourishes. His definition of community is, “a group of people that care about each other and feel they belong together.”
Acting on these Attributes I realized that the path to creating a trusting, ongoing relationship with others is “to use empathy, and to listen to the other’s stories.” I wrote these words in my last blog reflecting on how to bridge differences. The same simple and basic attitudes and steps apply to bridging differences and building community. Pfortmüller writes this at the above-mentioned website, “deep down, we all want to belong, we all want to feel loved and we all want to be accepted for who we truly are. That’s what a community is about…”