What’s the Value of a Community?

Posted by Ken on November 9, 2012 in Healthy Community, Ken's Blogs

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Have you ever stopped to think about that question?

I’m not talking about a monetary value, I’m talking about the impact that being part of a caring, sharing community can have on your life. I had never really thought about it, it just seems like something we take for granted.

Most of us are actually a part of many communities. I live in a community in Ontario, I am part of a curling and a golfing community, the company that I own and manage is another type of community. I am on the Foundation Board of our local hospital and that is another community.

But no matter how many communities we are part of, there are times when we can feel very alone. I have written about dis-ease in many of my blogs, and you would think that I would be part of a community that supported each other. Truth is, that hasn’t worked very well for me. It seems that many of the people that I know who have been diagnosed with dis-ease seem to be hanging out in communities that talk about how their dis-ease sucks. Make no mistake, having a dis-ease sucks, but if I hang out in communities that spend their time sharing how the dis-ease sucks, it seems to me like I’m focusing my attention on something that I don’t want. Sorry folks, no offense, but that’s not the community where I want to hang out.

Where do I want to hang out? I want to hang out in communities that are filled with hope. We can have the occasional comment and conversation about how our condition sucks, but then let’s move on. I happen to believe that cures for many dis-eases begin with our outlook and attitude. Suppression of our emotions, limiting beliefs about ourselves, etc. are things that contribute to illness and dis-ease. Recognizing and dealing with these root causes leads to healing. And I’ve read a lot of scientific and spiritual material that highlights that there is a lot of merit in these beliefs. Yup, that’s the community where I want to hang out. I want to hear the stories where people have healed their condition with diet, I want to hear the unexplained spontaneous remission stories. This gives hope, and that is a thought that I want to fill myself up with.

Hhhmmm, there’s not a lot of us around. How do you become part of a community like that when there don’t seem to be many people that share the same beliefs? That’s where I was, not that long ago. But the more I read, the more I wanted to read. And then I started asking questions of people and sharing my beliefs. And I found that there are more people than I realize that share my beliefs. I have very close friends in my local community who share my beliefs, and I have met many other colleagues and friends through FaceBook and twitter that share the same beliefs. I have heard many stories of people who have healed their conditions by changing their diets and attitudes, I have heard of many cases of spontaneous remission. I am filled with HOPE.

Over the past few weeks, I have had several moments of clarity. For some reason, I have been trying to do this on my own. I have been looking for things that I can do to change the health care system. I wake up with thoughts about what I can do, and I seem to stop and spin my wheels in those thoughts. My major moment of clarity came with the realization that my focus on ‘me’ and ‘changing the health care system’ was just a wee bit off. What if I changed my focus to join or help to create a community of people with similar beliefs? Guess what, now I am part of a community of like-minded people that believe that we can ‘put the care back into the health care system’. I am massively passionate about this belief, and look forward to sharing stories of our progress.

I’ve joined another community recently as well. My beliefs have taken me down the path of realization that our true health comes from a balance between the mind, body and spirit aspects of ourselves. My healing journey has started me on a spiritual path as well. There seem to be a lot of women that are on a spiritual path, but that is a bit of a lonely spot for men. I do know several men that are well on their way on their own spiritual journeys, but many don’t talk about it in more than a whisper. Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. I am now part of an amazing group of soul-full people that inspire me every day. We all have our own sh++ show in this group, but we don’t spend very much time there. If I happen to be a bit down, I might actually post a comment asking for help. The release that this gives me is a great form of surrender, and the feedback from the group turns me around in no time. I’m pretty sure I do the same for people in the group. Even though this is a virtual community, it may well be the community I value most. Thanks folks, you know who you are. Love you.

So I have developed a passion for my beliefs. And as much as I was making great progress in learning more and more, I really wasn’t making as much progress as I could have. Now that I am part of a couple of communities, I find that the inspiration that we get from each other is contagious. What once seemed like it might be a crazy idea is now supported by many others, and we encourage each other to keep moving in the direction of whatever it is we are passionate about.

Is there something that you’re passionate about but just don’t seem to be moving forward on as well as you’d like to? Is it possible that you could be trying to do too much on your own? Do you need to put out a call for help? How could being part of a caring, sharing community help you move forward?

Oh yeah, one more thing. If you feel like you’re on your own, you tend to think of ‘I’. When you’re in a community, you start to think of the word ‘we’. I write a lot about dis-ease in my blogs, and I have seen this quote a few times over the past couple of weeks:

When ‘I’ is replaced by ‘we’, even ‘illness’ becomes ‘wellness’.

So really, what is the value of a community?

Hope you’ll share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Namaste, Ken

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Written by Ken

Ken Jaques describes himself as a Health Care Evolutionary, Community Builder, and Speaker. True healing begins when we treat root causes instead of just masking symptoms. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 2008, Ken has experienced many facets of the health care system. As “the only patient who ever lost their hair on this low of a dosage of chemotherapy” – as spoken by his rheumatologist – Ken has been on an amazing journal of self-discovery, a journey of true healing. In his blog, Ken shares stories of how his beliefs have changed over the past few years, and how they are still changing. Is it possible that our bodies can heal themselves? Do we really have to live without hope after we receive a chronic illness diagnosis? These are the types of questions that Ken encourages people to ask themselves as they embark on their own physical or emotional healing journey.

Ken is creating a platform to connect People, Patients, Practitioners, Partners and Promoters, enabling a collaborative effort to help shift the focus on health from I-llness to We-llness. Check out the pilot at www.myHealthyCommunity.ca.

“When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘we’, even I-llness becomes WE-llness” ~ Malcolm X