What Kind Of Community Am I Building?

Community.

A word that has been thrown around a lot in the past decade.

“I want to build a community.”

A phrase that probably many of us have heard from others and uttered ourselves.

But what does it mean to build a community?

Well, I’d say the question is at the heart of my answer.

I want to build a community that constantly seeks to push the boundaries of that question.

Toward a horizon in which that question can never be fully answerable.

Because it is in the pursuit of a lived answer that a community comes together.

So honestly speaking, I cannot answer the initial question to my full potential.

Because….

All I know is that the community I’m building will be in a constant state of flux.

Because….

The community I am building is dying to the Known.

The community I am building is being born every day.

The community I am building is being destroyed.

The community I am building is being created.

The community I am building is pursuing Mystery.

Perhaps you may feel this is too vague for a community, especially because community indicates something shared.

Well, how about we go back to the roots?

The word “community” stems from the Latin word “communis”:

• “Com” is derived from the Indo-European root “kom” meaning “near” or “beside”

• “Munis” is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root “mei” which means “to change” or “to exchange”

So in the truest sense of the word, community means to be in close touch with those who want to change and be changed.

Hm, that’s interesting.

Perhaps that’s my answer for now.

I am building a close community of exchangers.

Exchangers…?

What does that mean?

That’s for another time.

For another step toward the ever-unanswerable horizon, which is our human community.