What Creates Community?

Overlapping discussions lately have addressed the question of how to create community. It is possible to be in the midst of a group but not OF the group, and some of us were brainstorming ways to more readily gather people in. It got me thinking about the various communities I'm part of...

...my block watch holds a party nearly every month. Some months it's a real party, and some months it's the party to plan the next party! Not being big cocktail partiers, we opt to attend a few of the more picknicky type gatherings, but it is nice to know there is a core group of people who really like to be in touch. They've known each other for a long time. There are a few rental houses and a few "outliers" who aren't on the email list or don't seem to include themselves - or are we just not trying hard enough to bring them in? i don't know...

...a small group of friends from a different circle gathered the other night (after some major tapdancing around our schedules) to play guitars and sing. it was a gathering that came about because we really enjoyed singing & playing together at another event last spring and it just took a long time to make it happen...

...the 9th floor at my mother in law's new retirement home has worn her out over the past few days, making sure she's not feeling alone or "new." she's had someone to eat with at every meal, and has already been connected with some other bridge players... It's been very purposeful and intentional, and quite lovely to witness.

...my choir is a community within the church community... we eat together, laugh at the same jokes, enjoy the same stories, commune over the same music... and assume we are perceived as being open to new members. yet i've noticed people coming once or twice and then not returning. is the music too challenging? were we intimidating in some way? or was it simply not their "thing?" it's so hard to tell...

...a parents' group i find myself a part of through one of my kids' activities is much more insular and hard to break into... there's a distinct sense of whose kid is better at doing what that used to make me so uncomfortable in those distant preschool co-op days... it's a "club" i belong to solely as a worker bee, and that's enough for me...

does community really spring up of its own accord? are there things we can do to foster a sense of belonging? what if you're an outsider looking in... how do you become a part of the group?

Well, biofuels got some bad press recently. Evidently, those of us who purchase our fuel from responsible manufacturers are lumped in with those who are importing their product from overseas, manufacturing it irresponsibly, and so forth. Argh.

We who drive the Biodieselmobile refuse to be in the same club with with those whose raw materials come from palm oil (which comes from palm trees, which are cut down overseas), or soy or canola grown overseas and then imported (thus jacking the price up, from what I understand). Our supplier, Dr. Dan's FuelWerks in Ballard, is carbon neutral: they contribute to NetGreen and Dr. Dan participates actively in the community that's concerned about sustainability.

So we still feel good putting soy based biodiesel in the Biodieselmobile. The price has gone up—shockingly—but we never got into this for the cheapness. We got into it to make fewer bad emissions.

I got some statistics the last time I was at Dr. Dan's.

By driving my car instead of my old minivan:
Unburned hydrocarbons are reduced by 67%
Carbon monoxide is reduced by 48%
Particulate matter is reduced by 47%
Sulfates are reduced by 100%
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are reduced by 80%
Nitrated PAHs are reduced by 90%
*These figures are estimates. The EPA has no comparative results for gasoline vs. biodiesel emissions.

Driving the Biodieselmobile is not perfect. It's costing me a small fortune to fill my 13 gallon tank. But that is making me much more aware of when I hop in the car out of sheer convenience. I wonder if the approaching $4 a gallon for gasoline will do the same for others?

Cooking Parties, Anyone?

Some of us church members are attending a House Church (for those of you who aren't Methodists, this means a small group study) and talking about money. (Gasp!) It seems that how we handle our money is a subject almost as taboo as talking about our sex lives. Maybe even more taboo. But we're managing a nice round-table discussion.

In the context of budgeting, we've been talking about food: shopping for groceries, spending too much on take-out (or eat-out!) and what to do if you can't cook, or simply don't like to. One person runs a daycare, and cooks nutritious breakfasts and lunches. But by the time evening rolls around, she's out of ideas for dinner, and out of energy. For my part, I simply don't like to cook, so thinking and planning about food is not something I've ever done well. Others live alone, and cooking is not a fun project. Lots of reasons to grab take-out... lots of desire to manage our food dollars better.

A lightbulb went off and we said: why not cook together? Our church has a sparkling new kitchen with two stoves and two ovens, and we could really put it to good use, making gigantic pots of spaghetti sauce or chili or stew, baking mega-lasagnas (or whatever), and then dividing up portions to freeze for each individual household. That way, we'd always have something in the freezer, and at least in my case, we wouldn't have to think so hard at the end of the day.

In addition to helping us save money—and possibly more important—is the community building aspect of a Cooking Party. There's a reason people enjoy quilting parties, study groups, barn raisings, and knitting nights. It's more fun to do work with friends. And an opportunity to meet new ones.

We're proposing a kick-off Cooking Party in June when the berries start appearing in farmers markets and U-Pick farms — and beginning with strawberry freezer jam.

If anyone is interested, post a comment. And if you're interested in getting together before June, to make some mega-meals to share, post that comment, too.