Civic Engagement: It Will Change Your Community

In my last post I spoke to the truth that engaging in your community can change who you are forever. Of course, there is a flip side: it will also change your community forever. We live in the United States, a country founded on the principles of freedom and independence. This is wonderful and necessary, yet there is a downside to this way of life. Independence without tapping into our communities can lead to quite a narrow life. We can live in our small worlds, isolated in our ever-expanding homes, sliding into the garage at night, and never experience the larger world around us. This type of existence can work, but it has a shallow feel.

The truth is, an important component of a great social experiment such as the United States is the fact that a knowledgeable, committed populace is essential to making it work. We are free to reap the benefits of individual hard work, but we work within communities, and if our communities are not alive and healthy, it will eventually affect our own individual plans.

So with our freedoms come responsibilities. If there is a need in the community, someone steps forward to fill it. In a healthy community, people look out for each other and offer what skills they have. When my husband was working out of town for many years, I was grateful to all of the parents who coached my kids in sports. I was able to use my background in education to volunteer in our school libraries and reading programs. And when my husband retired, we were able to coach our Engineering Club's robotics team.

One of my daughter's high school teachers said it well when, in his syllabus, he addressed the issue of participation: If you attend class but choose not to participate, we are all the poorer for it. You are a unique individual - no one is like you or thinks like you - and your contribution is not only welcome but essential. We are all responsible for fashioning the society we want - our contribution is essential.