I live in rural Appalachia... It is a place where to put it plain and simple, place matters. Neighbors know neighbors, and what your relationship is to that place kind of defines you. I have not always lived in the same place-- I can best be described as an educational gypsy. But I was raised in Appalachia as well... and that will not leave me, I think. I like a sense of community...
a sense of belonging....
Welcome to Brothers and Sisters, the weekly meetup for prayer* and community at Daily Kos. We put an asterisk on pray* to acknowledge that not everyone uses conventional religious language, but may want to share joys and concerns, or simply take solace in a meditative atmosphere. Anyone who comes in the spirit of mutual respect, warmth and healing is welcome.
As I moved quite a bit, I have found that community doesn't have to be tied to a place-- to a specific neighborhood or town, although it's nice to connect in those places.
Take this place-- we meet here to talk and share our hopes, desires and frustrations... just like people meet and do it in physical locations like the post office, the hair salon/ barbor shop, and the feed store.
Community matters... because we people are social creatures (even the prickly ones!). We want to connect... and we want to matter.
YOU matter here, because you are part of this place. It wouldn't be the same without you.
I imagine community means different things to different people... as it should. We meet here with our different life experiences and our different faith traditions and form the community we each individually are looking for.
Glad to be part of this community here... and glad for DailyKos as a place to share community as well as politics (really can't separate the two, anyway!)