Community.

As I flew over Alberta on Monday morning, I was reminded of a webinar I took part in, in October.  The scene from the window of the plane was a very clear visual of what I had learned in this webinar.  They spoke at first of how important communities once were. Communities were important for the survival of each and every member of that particular community. Everything they grew, they grew together, and they shared what they grew. They shared the rearing of all children, the cooking, the building and organizing of their community.  They cared for and looked out for one another.  No one ever died alone. The community was one big family. I remember living in Prince George years ago. There were some families there with very large homes, and in those homes lived parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. I would hear others point fingers and make fun of people in these homes, but for me, I admired them.  Living that way just seemed to make sense.  Perfect sense. They shared the upkeep of the house, the cooking, the financial responsibilities, rearing of the children, the support to each other, and no one died alone. I also feel it has benefits that we don’t even realize. The children would have the opportunity to learn from a variety of adults, male and female, and of all different ages. Instead of only learning about how women are, from one mother, they would see and learn different views from a variety of women. Instead of learning about how men are, from a father, the children learn from a variety of men. I can’t even begin to imagine how important and beneficial this would be for the personal development of the children.

So what happened?  Why don’t more people live like that?  Why don’t we have more community style living?  Thousands of years ago agriculture came to be, and with it, fences and boundaries. Suddenly society changes from thinking its “ours”, to thinking it’s “mine” and “yours”. Slowly over time people went from caring and showing compassion to everyone, to only worrying about themselves.

There are still fine examples of people reaching out to others in need. The fires in Ft Mac for one, and there are many examples of people reaching out to help communities that have gone through natural disasters, all over the world. I see Silent River Kung Fu as being another tremendous example. The school and the people inside it’s walls have been incredibly beneficial to myself and my family, and they continue to do so. I had not even a tiny inkling of how my life was about to change when I first walked through that front door 20 years ago. “Out of the Kwoon and into the world”. Our Kung fu school works hard to make a difference out in our local communities and in communities across the globe. The school is being proactive in doing their part to make the world a better place.

SRKF is a family in its own right. It’s a community in itself. A small community within larger ones. We as a community, are like the pebble dropped into the pond and then our efforts are rippled out to the larger communities.

SRKF is doing amazing work within its own four walls, for all who enter this new family. We teach discipline, respect of self and all others, whether living or non living. We build self confidence through gaining self esteem, which in turn eliminates the threat of bullying and opens up oh so much more in the ways of opportunities to expand life experiences , and a progression of “self”.  SRKF teaches us control, awareness of ourselves, mental and physical, defences for protection in many forms. SRKF has a community mentality that promotes looking out for and supporting one another.  This was very evident at the recent tiger challenge. Through our journals we learn of the struggles in the family, and about what tactics each person uses to overcome and rise above the challenges. I could go on and on about benefits of being in the SRKF family. What has come to my mind recently, is the numerous, extremely important benefits to the children involved. “It takes a village to raise a child”, has expanded in meaning for me. Not only are the physical needs of the children and youth met, but the mental and emotional needs are considered as well. The kids have a large supply of mentors to choose from. They have a wide variety of examples before them that they are constantly subjected to: men and women with a multitude of personalities, ideas and characteristics. The kids aren’t only subjected to mom and dad, and perhaps a teacher at school, but to a vast array of individuals, young and older, who care and support them.  The kids won’t even be conscious of what they are doing, but they are in fact subconsciously taking in data about how adults act, talk, interact, and deal with life situations. This is the conditioning that every individual goes through, and that eventually takes control of the type of person they will eventually become; of who they choose to become.

Being abused as a child, I could have withdrawn, chose drugs and alcohol to self medicate, and become a so called troubled teenager, with a negative outlook on life. Because I was put in the path of others who lived healthy wholesome lives and exercised compassion and positive living habits, I chose to rise above what happened to me. I don’t think I had any idea at the time that I was making those choices, nor did I recognize those individuals involved. I did know that their lifestyle was not the same as what I had been used to and I was drawn to that. Today my eyes are wide open to the role that each and every person throughout the years, has played in my life.

Members of the SRKF family may not directly see the positive influences that are happening every time they walk through the front door, or take part in an event outside of the school. Yet, one thing is for sure. Whether consciously or subconsciously, anyone walking in through the door, walks back out with far more than they came in with. I know for sure I did, and continue to do so.