I hate the word “community”.
It’s become a word that’s thrown around so lightly, especially in the world of tech, and if I’m being honest, social impact as well.
HOWEVER, in Zadie Smith’s book Intimations, there’s a chapter titled A Woman With A Little Dog which I’ve come to love. I go back to that chapter often, hoping to fall back in love with the essence of what community is and the kind of meaning it should hold.
My favorite excerpt from the book:
There is an ideal, rent-controlled city dweller who appears to experience no self-pity, who knows exactly how long to talk to someone in the street, who creates community without overly sentimentalizing the concept — or ever saying aloud the word “community” — and who always picks up after their dog, even if it’s physically painful to do so. Whose daily breakfast is a cigarette and a croissant from the French place on the corner, although to accommodate her new walker, Barbra now eats and smokes on the bench outside the hairdresser, properly intended for clients of the salon. But no one minds because this is Barbra and Beck we’re talking about, regular in their habits and known to all.
“Create community without overly sentimentalizing the concept or even saying aloud the word “community” — regular in their habits, known to all.”
Now that’s a New Year's resolution, ain’t it?
Peace out,
Grace ✌️
