Why Community?

from the zegg.de website

No human can live without community: to replace the missing social networks of a functioning community, our society has developed systems such as pension schemes and health and nursing care insurance. However, their structure and anonymity means they can neither meet the most urgent needs nor respond to the human longing for a meaning and sense of belonging. Furthermore, this ever greater coupling of an individual's care provision to the economic system is leading to increasing dependence upon the globalised corporations; social isolation and capitalism are two sides of the same coin.

We are living in a culture of separation - from ourselves and our fellow humans. We live separated from Nature, treating it as a source of raw materials, not as our home - a home which we are a part of. That's why what we understand as individuality is often so hollow and has to be proven and maintained with the help of so many external props. Contrast this with the interconnected way of life which is still practised in a few places on our planet today by so-called indigenous peoples. There a person lives as part of his or her community, the tribe, and the tribe in turn lives as an integral part of the surrounding Nature. We're not advocating a return to such tribal cultures, but we can develop similar but contemporary forms of community which reflect our cultural history. In this way we make a conscious decision to live in community.

A community is made up of a diversity of people complementing and supporting each other in their growth. Growth means to see and shape our own beings and to take on responsibility which goes beyond our self. This ability to see and know ourself within the human context of a group and the ecological context of Planet Earth grows when we live in community.

The social competence and affinity which develop from this are probably the most important abilities which we need in today's world. Our experience shows that living in community necessitates a few personal changes. Thinking communally is a demanding process if your emotional base isn't clear or if important values haven't been communicated.

Ways of behaving which we learnt because of competitive and performance-oriented ways of thinking often get in the way: thoughts such as "I can do it all by myself", for example. Luckily, the more experience you have of support from and trust in others, the more these thought patterns disappear.

In order to build trust amongst ourselves, we have developed a pool of knowledge and methods: this is where our treasures, our competence and our excitement lie - our long years of experience with work on ourselves and building community. Nonetheless, we still have many questions, crises and times of stagnation - they are part of our experimental life just as much as the constantly re-appearing friendship and connectedness which comes from working towards a common goal.