My story: Origins of the yearning
"Why the hell would you want to live like that...?
I lived happily and completely ignorant of reality in a typical family setting, until my parents divorced all of a sudden when I was 12 years old.
No, I didn’t see it coming, because they did everything they could to "protect" me and my sister from the fact that our save haven of a family was going to break up.
Back then I was a very stubborn child, not allowing my feelings to hurt me- and I really thought that I was doing fine.
Now I know that of course, I wasn’t.
If I would have allowed myself to feel it, I would have felt scared and very insecure about myself and life in general, which is just awful and it is how most people feel every time they are involved in some kind of "split up".
I mean, we do all know that the desire for feeling safe and not to be alone is our nature, it is imprinted in our very DNA,
we are herd animals after all!
So as a kid I had the opportunity to be part of my fathers family for a while, a huge family, and it was awesome.
At least three or four generations were hanging around my grandmas house at all times, coming and going.
There was constantly something going on, always someone to play with, people were helping each other, socializing,
interacting in some way.
But do not get me wrong, I am not talking about the absence of privacy here...god no, I don’t know about you but I certainly need my own time and space, or else I would go nuts, surely.
However, I instinctively knew then and now, that this is how we were all meant to live and I have always dreamt about creating and being part of a community that resembles a big family.
Unfortunately though, reality looks so very different today for just way too many people.
Everywhere we find lonely people, whether in a big city where people who live since decades in the same building are total strangers to each other, or in tiny hamlets where the only two surviving women live in a state of declared war as long as they can remember, because of a squabble over a petty little matter, started by their parents who are long dead.
Not to mention senior people living completely on their own or getting disposed off, as if they aren’t worth anything, as if they cannot contribute any more to this society.
Single moms who are so overwhelmed and tired, they can barely make it through the day.
Young people, lacking any support or direction in their lives, feeling hopeless and who are in danger of loosing themselves in bad habits or addictions....
However grim the world looks though, every day there are more small villages, neighbourhoods and communities, where people are actually there for each other, where everyone has a purpose and I am coming across more and more people who are longing for the exact same thing, willing to make a conscious effort to turn their lives around..
However small the scale or impact, I believe that is inevitable for us to change our ways, that we have to be courageous enough to make a new start and to get our priorities right.
So, what about you?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this
All the best
No, I didn’t see it coming, because they did everything they could to "protect" me and my sister from the fact that our save haven of a family was going to break up.
Back then I was a very stubborn child, not allowing my feelings to hurt me- and I really thought that I was doing fine.
Now I know that of course, I wasn’t.
If I would have allowed myself to feel it, I would have felt scared and very insecure about myself and life in general, which is just awful and it is how most people feel every time they are involved in some kind of "split up".
I mean, we do all know that the desire for feeling safe and not to be alone is our nature, it is imprinted in our very DNA,
we are herd animals after all!
So as a kid I had the opportunity to be part of my fathers family for a while, a huge family, and it was awesome.
At least three or four generations were hanging around my grandmas house at all times, coming and going.
There was constantly something going on, always someone to play with, people were helping each other, socializing,
interacting in some way.
But do not get me wrong, I am not talking about the absence of privacy here...god no, I don’t know about you but I certainly need my own time and space, or else I would go nuts, surely.
However, I instinctively knew then and now, that this is how we were all meant to live and I have always dreamt about creating and being part of a community that resembles a big family.
Unfortunately though, reality looks so very different today for just way too many people.
Everywhere we find lonely people, whether in a big city where people who live since decades in the same building are total strangers to each other, or in tiny hamlets where the only two surviving women live in a state of declared war as long as they can remember, because of a squabble over a petty little matter, started by their parents who are long dead.
Not to mention senior people living completely on their own or getting disposed off, as if they aren’t worth anything, as if they cannot contribute any more to this society.
Single moms who are so overwhelmed and tired, they can barely make it through the day.
Young people, lacking any support or direction in their lives, feeling hopeless and who are in danger of loosing themselves in bad habits or addictions....
However grim the world looks though, every day there are more small villages, neighbourhoods and communities, where people are actually there for each other, where everyone has a purpose and I am coming across more and more people who are longing for the exact same thing, willing to make a conscious effort to turn their lives around..
However small the scale or impact, I believe that is inevitable for us to change our ways, that we have to be courageous enough to make a new start and to get our priorities right.
So, what about you?
- is living in a community something you are considering, or maybe already doing?
- Why would you want to do so..or why NOT?
- and what are the origins of YOUR yearning?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this
All the best