2.3 Communities of spirit

Another way to think about community is as something that you choose to define or even create for yourself, based on what you value most, as William describes next.

Listen to Video 3, where William talks about what community means to him.

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Transcript: Video 3: William on community.

WILLIAM

Community is something more than a place, and that’s where I want to start about what I value most about community. Because maybe unlike others, I don’t value in the same way where I live in relation to how I fit into that community, and the origin of that probably dates back to my release from prison. Because as a political prisoner for a long period of time, when I came back, I didn’t come back to the community that I was first arrested from. And in that respect, I struggled to fit in to that community.

Subsequently, as I made a life of my own then, I moved from community to community and didn’t put down any roots in any one given community. So, community as a place doesn’t have the same meaning to me that it might do with others. The love of my family, my wife, my siblings, my mother and father, my children, my grandchildren mean the utmost to me as a value, and on occasions when we come together, I can sense that community of spirit within us all.

I value the respect of others. I have a significant amount of responsibility that I believe what I do, working in conflict transformation. And whilst my background would mean that some members of society would be sceptical of me, those that I work with regularly on a day-to-day basis, I value the respect of them.

In the early morning, often before the sun comes up, I value those times on my own. When I’m sitting just with my own thoughts, with a cup of coffee. I value even being out walking in places that are unfamiliar to me. Some people might term that as being lost, but for someone again with my background, I don’t mind occasionally being lost.

The community of interest that I get from the comradeship, from people that I spent long times in prison with outside of my family interest, are the thing that I value most. Because with that, I sense a community of spirit that comes from my experience of being a political prisoner for a long period of time.

End transcript: Video 3: William on community.

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Video 3: William on community.

Now answer the following questions in Activity 6.

Discovering who you are and what you value, as an individual separate from your environment, the community you grow up in or how others see you, is not an easy thing to do. One skill William learned while in prison and through his education and the advice of others, was how to take the time to pause, to reflect on his experience and to actively explore his own thoughts. When doing self-reflection like this it is useful to note down your thoughts so that you can revisit them again at another time. You can also see if your thinking has changed over time. Self-reflection is something you will find valuable to do throughout this course, so why not try it now.

Community is something that is made through relationships, memories and experiences with others, and because of this, as people we can also change our community or its boundaries or even make new communities. In times of social or political conflict however, or if you and your community are feeling under threat, it can be harder to change your idea of community or make new connections with others, as you will explore in the next section.