We’ve all heard the saying “It takes a village to raise a child”. What this speaks to in a more general sense is the need for a healthy community, but for all of us in our daily lives. While not many people nowadays live in an actual village, it is important to create community bonds that offer the same support structure of the proverbial village. Recognizing the importance of community, we then must figure out how to build a village. Today, a personal village can stretch across the globe, though real interaction on a day-to-day basis is still important for inter-personal bonds.
Modern society is quite different from a village. With the internet, we can reach across the globe in seconds. Increased mobility and urbanization mean that many people are leaving their home communities to pursue different job opportunities or lifestyles. The individual and his or her individualized choices have taken precedence over the village. While this can offer great opportunities for self-discovery and fulfilment, the deprivation of support structures can be frightening.
Today’s village may be built through individual choices, yet it is always necessary to consider the needs of others. Not everyone can fit perfectly into a world we build ourselves, yet with the traditional village hardly possible, we must to some extent take an active role in constructing our own community bonds. These may take different forms from that of the proverbial village, but the function is the same, and we, like the child, are all greatly affected by the community around us – or the lack thereof.
