As Buddhist we are taught the importance of the Sangha or community. It can help strengthen our practice to be with like minded people. We can do service with our sangha. Basically, the group benefits the individual and vice versa. What I want to discuss, though, is the community we live in.
Years ago community meant something sacred. Today, I'm not sure it still does. My Great Grandfather lost half of his arm one year. He ran a farm and was in the hospital for a while, as you can imagine. When it was time to harvest the people of that small, rural, community came together and helped bring in the crops. There are pictures of it in our family albums. People milling about on the farm, long tables filled with food, smiles, worn out faces, all these things mean community to me.
If my neighbors need help, I do my best to help. This winter I often shoveled my driveway as well as my neighbor's. They are older ladies with declining health and they genuinely appreciate it. I do it with expecting anything in return and it makes me feel great to help. In a world where gratification has to be instant and we are all about what WE want and what WE do can help US, community has quickly lost it's meaning.
People often wonder what happened to our moral structure and want to place the blame everywhere they can. Truth is, we have become more concerned with things than we are our neighbors. We are more concerned about how much money we have and what it can buy us to look around and say "Hello," to our neighbors. How many people do you know that live on your street? I'm guilty of this as well. Ate the very least we should know the people who live on either side of us. Take a minute, step away from your tech and go say hi to the neighbors.
In a disaster scenario the people you will be relying on, in many, many cases, is your neighbors. They are the ones who will stumble out of the wreckage of their own homes and come save you from the wreckage of yours. The one s who will be with you as you dig out what memories you can. The ones who will be there when the Red Cross is busy wading through red tape. The ones who will help you when the insurance companies refuse. The ones who won't make you jump through hoops, but will slap on a mask, grab a tool, and ask, "Where do you need me."
There is no better an example of this being true than Staten Island. Like most of use who don't live near the East Coast, I watched the news in horror as Sandy battered the cities along the seaboard. Then, while on twitter over the course of the weeks that followed, I saw something alarming. The people of Staten Island seemed to be completely on their own.
Theo Rossi, yea the guy from Sons of Anarchy, is a pretty active guy on Twitter. His parents live in Staten Island, which is where he grew up, and he was visiting when the storm hit. He was vocal about what was going on in his hometown. People were missing, people were homeless with, very literally, just the clothes on their backs, damage was everywhere, and the people stepping up were people of the community, not of any nationally recognized organization. I watched as they let people know here they could charge their cell phones, where they had set up hubs to help everyone.
Most of all, I wanted to help.
I sent a box of clothes, I passed on the info about where to send it. Then I felt like there was nothing more I could really do, except retweet every bit of information I could and share it on any social media I had. To my surprise, it did actually help people. I was so excited, so happy to be helping any small way that I could.
I was watching an interview the other day where I was introduced to the term "Slacktivist". This term is what many say about people who retweet, repost, and otherwise share information about causes. I will proudly wear that term, if that's what you want to label me, because I know my slacktivism helps. I know my blog has lead people to Staten Strong where they can donate or buys shirts. I know, without doubt, my blog has helped. It's part of why I try to keep the awareness going strong. Without people to keep reminding others that there is still help needed people will forget and just move on.
For those of us who aren't living the situation it is easy not to remember that much of Staten Island is still in huge disrepair or that there are civil wars happening in other countries or that there are animals in need of homes or that there are children in need of an education. The only way to keep it in the forefront is to get the word out there.
The way I see it, the story would live long without the bard to tell it.
I think it's time we bring back the meaning of community that was held before. Get out, say hi to people, make friends out of neighbors, rake leaves, shovel drives, carry groceries in for people, just do whatever you possibly can to be helpful. Kindness is kindness in small or large doses, it's the same.
I want to leave you guys with a few videos of the aftermath in Staten Island. Keep spreading the word about the amazing group at Staten Strong. Help them help their neighbors.
You can donate or buy gear at: www.statenstrong.com
You can follow them on Twitter @StatenStrong
You can follow the one of the biggest hearts around on Twitter @TheoRossi
To see how you can help turn news into action on Twitter follow @RYOTNews
To follow a kind soul out to save the planet follow @iansomerhalder
You can visit Ian's charity here ISF
Lets take the time to grow the hearts of our communities, making life less about I and more about Us.
Angry Girl
