We have heard the phrase “It takes a village” and “No man is an island”. We may be born and die on our own, but the time in between is filled with influences of people and our environments; communities or “villages”. Villages can encompass family, friends, and groups from school or work. We take those experiences, good or bad, and let them become part of our world. We belong to each one, move through them, learn, and sometimes move onward.
In the beginning…
Villages date back around 300,00 years. Remains have been found of pendants, stone tools, and bones of hunted animals. These remains are some of the oldest known in Morocco, North Africa, and are categorized as “modern”. Cave paints and remains of spears date back to 40,000 years. Though all the findings are remarkable, the greatest understanding is that there was a community of people who gathered to feed and care for one another. This is not a lesson from National Geographic, but what it shows is that we survived, learned, and endured.
Villages of my past
Beyond family and work there are villages that I am most grateful for.
I was diagnosed withbreast cancer at thirty-
nine. In this new environment, I met groups and individuals to whom I will be eternally grateful. They let me cry, laugh, and stress, and even comforted me when my mother died. My first “village” was made of individual units, my parents and my brother, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. As I grew and my world did as well with friends, teachers, and other adults who cared for me. Several of the people I have met in my younger years are still my friends twenty and thirty years later. In early adulthood, the circle brought me to the village of the parent pack where I passed my knowledge along to my child. The cycle continued.
Villages equal Communities
I want to return to the question of “What is a village?” A village is a community and the dictionary defines community as –
- a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.
- a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.
My village or community description has more meaning. We are all connected with a common thread. Whether a village is a settlement of people in an urban, rural, or suburban area at its heart it is simply a group of people with common interests. It is a set of relationships and feelings. All of us live on this planet. We need to work for common interests if we are to meet those common needs.
Separate or Together
With all things and in all things, we are relatives.
Native American (Sioux) Proverb
This proverb is a rough translation. It’s about how we need to see ourselves. In order to survive, we need one another. The proverb is about oneness and being in harmony with all forms of life: other people, animals, birds, insects, trees and plants, and even rocks, rivers, mountains, and valleys.
What we do or say to ourselves or to one another matters. We are all affected by words and actions. By design, we are social animals with superior social skills. It is the information that we exchange of experiences, reflections, and imagination that builds our minds and helps to continue to obtain new information.
When we are separate, we wither. Have you seen experiments where a person was isolated on purpose? Or what can happen to a prisoner that has been put into isolation for extended periods of time? Individuals have become depressed, anxious, and just a general decline in their well-being. Villages are needed for cooperative living which helps us enhance our brains through cooperation. So, I ask the question, “What is your village? Where do you spend time?”
