Are you rooted? ?If you are a gardener, your first thought may be about plants; but I’m talking about being connected to a place.
When our?children were preschoolers, my husband and I seriously considered moving ?from our home?to a bigger city in order to be closer to family members. ?We had arrived in?our city due ?to employment,?and the plan had been?to stay for a few years before moving on.
As part of the decision-making process we listed all the things that we would like to have in a new community. ?What would we miss by moving away? ?How could we replace the doctor we relied upon, my hairstylist who had been part of our?children’s first haircuts? Where could we find a?neighbourhood park that we loved as much as the one we already had? ?What about our friends and neighbours?
After creating many lists of the pros and cons of going vs. staying; we decided to stay. We could visit family, and so many things about our community were irreplaceable. We were rooted.
The Importance of Being Rooted
“To be rooted”, philosopher Simone Weil once wrote, “is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.” ?When we are rooted, we feel that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves. ?We have a vested interest in the health of our community. ?We develop a sense of ‘hometown pride’. ?We care.
When we feel attached to our community, we’re more likely to be social and volunteer. We feel a connection to our local economy?and may support neigbourhood businesses by spending our money locally. ?As we learn more about our community, we may support local farmers at the market or join a Community Shared Agriculture group.
A key benefit is that the system is reciprocal…when we give to our community, it gives back. ?Our support systems grow, there are more local choices, and there is a sense of belonging that we experience when we walk down the street and say ‘hello’ to?people that we know, or the local barrista already knows our order when we walk in the cafe.
Being Rooted in our Community is Good for Us
Research confirms that being rooted in our community is good for us. ?In the July/August 2016 issue of ?Psychology Today,? author Melody Warnick (in her article”Right Where You Belong“) describes a study conducted in Tokyo. ?This study?discovered that elderly Japanese women who felt attached to their neighbourhood were more likely to be alive five years later than were women who didn’t care about their communities. ?For women who liked where they lived and also interacted with their neighbours, their chance of survival compared to more ambivalent residents increased by 6 percent.
In her book Lonely: ?Learning to Live with Solitude, Emily White describes her experience with loneliness. ?She cites many studies that show the connection between loneliness, loss of health and increased mortality. ?However, we may be less lonely and have an already-developed support system in place when we are rooted in our community. ?These support systems are there when life becomes difficult.
Rootedness In Practice
When I think about support systems, I ?often remember a particular example of individuals being rooted in their community. ?There was?a group of widows that attended the same church. ?As Sundays can be difficult for people on their own, this group of women would plan a day’s worth of activities (church and lunch, followed by a matinee or concert). ?By the time each arrived home, the day was mostly over– they had connected to others and enjoyed themselves. ?These women made?a point of including anyone they knew who needed to take part in this group–especially new widows. ?Participation ebbed and flowed, and the group continued to be there when needed. ?They looked out for each other.
Being Rooted Takes Effort
Being rooted and building community are reciprocal, and takes effort. ?For many years a laminated copy of this poster hung beside our door. ?It was a reminder?of how to grow roots. ?It recommended:
- Turn off your TV
- Leave your house
- Know your neighbors
- Look up when you are walking
- Greet people
- Sit on your stoop
- Plant flowers
- Use your library
- Play together
- Buy from local merchants
- Share what you have
- Help a lost dog
- Take children to the park
- Garden together
- Support neighborhood schools
- Fix it even if you didn’t break it
- Have potlucks
- Honor elders
- Pick up litter
- Read stories aloud
- Dance in the street
- Talk to the mail carrier
- Listen to the birds
- Put up a swing
- Help carry something heavy
- Barter for your goods
- Start a tradition
- Ask a question
- Hire young people for odd jobs
- Organize a block party
- Bake extra and share
- Ask for help when you need it
- Open your shades
- Sing together
- Share your skills
- Take back the night
- Turn up the music
- Turn down the music
- Listen before you react to anger
- Mediate a conflict
- Seek to understand
- Learn from new and uncomfortable angles
- Know that no one is silent although many are not heard. Work to change this.
These ideas may sound like a lot of work, and the payback is tremendous–much more than is originally put in…and it’s good for us and others!
Now, for a flashback to how some of us learned about community; here’s some vintage Sesame Street. ?Enjoy!
