Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Community
It's the Summer Solstice; the longest day of the year and the final turning point as we head back down the slope into the golden season. It also means there are more hours to enjoy in the nice weather, and more daylight time available in which to bugger oneself up.
Yes, you guessed it - I had another mini-disaster this morning. I forgot to turn the iron off after ironing my shirt, and when I reached over to get my coffee, I burnt the top of my hand. An inch-long scar is swelling as I type and it's most uncomfortable.
In other news, I got lost in one of The Company's newer buildings and missed a meeting as a result. I shed no tears over the loss of a mind-numbing hour for a project I have pulled out of anyway. "Doctor's orders" means no overnight shifts for a few weeks. They complained. I told them to ** **** **********!
One of the benefits of publishing my blog a day in lieu is that I can comment on what other bloggers say who publish on the same day. Devon Ellington - http://inkinmycoffee.blogspot.com - said in her entry for today about the Solstice, "Enjoy it. And take some time to connect with your community."
I like the sentiment in this and wanted to follow it up, but instead it threw up a problematic question I found hard to answer: Just what is my community?
I couldn't answer, so decided to go the start and look it up in the dictionary. It had 5 seperate definitions:
1. A group of people living in the same locality and under the same government. The district or locality in which such a group lives.
This could mean several things: the new cul-de-sac we live in, the people in our street, Leith, Edinburgh, Midlothian, the Central Belt, Scotland, the UK. It could grow bigger (to Europe?), but the point is do I feel part of any of these communities? Do I feel like I fit into their way of life or should I be trying to?
I have to ask myself, "who am I?" to get any further. The answer in this respect is simple. I am Colin Galbraith and I am, first and foremost, a British Subject. I am Scottish and within that domain I am a west-coaster. I don't consider myself to be an east-coaster - at least not a Leither or member of the Edinburgh swashbucklers - and I am certainly not European, but I am part of the new family that has moved into an already-established community in our street.
This, to me, is all pretty vague and doesn't help me answer the question of what my community is though.
2. A group of people having common interests: the scientific community; the international business community. A group viewed as forming a distinct segment of society: the gay community; the community of color.
"Interests" and "segment of society". This is more like it as things are getting broken down to see what is inside. This is not things I like or dislike - you won’t see "I am a movie fan". That doesn’t tell you who I am. This list is the things that I AM.
I am a writer.
I am a poet.
I am a husband.
I am a dad.
I am a computer worker.
You try this - it's hard when you have never considered it before.
Things I also am, but that don't really matter, I have mentioned here only because they were given in the examples in the dictionary as being "segments of society". Such as:
I am straight.
I am white. (actually, I'm pale blue. This IS Scotland!)
Has this helped define MY community? It's moving in the right direction.
3. Similarity or identity: a community of interests. Sharing, participation, and fellowship.
I am a member of a wonderful writing group.
I am a member of a fantastric poetry group.
I am a member of Leith's local artists and writers community by virtue of our interests.
4. Society as a whole; the public.
Again, this is too vague. I can't be compared with the rich folks living in the penthouses overlooking Leith's fashionable Shore district. Nor can I be compared with the homeless bloke who sits outside the record shop on Elm Row.
5. Ecology. A group of plants and animals living and interacting with one another in a specific region under relatively similar environmental conditions. The region occupied by a group of interacting organisms.
I am not a plant.
So, who is my community? The strongest feeling I get after having written through this and thinking all the way, has to be my fellow writers and artists, especially in cyber-world and in Edinburgh.
But I am also a member of a group of men who love their families, their wives and children.
Therefore, in order to respond to Devon's blog and "connect with my community", I think by the mere process of carrying through this exercise and writing it down, and from you taking the time to read it, I have, unwittingly, accomplished it.
Yes, you guessed it - I had another mini-disaster this morning. I forgot to turn the iron off after ironing my shirt, and when I reached over to get my coffee, I burnt the top of my hand. An inch-long scar is swelling as I type and it's most uncomfortable.
In other news, I got lost in one of The Company's newer buildings and missed a meeting as a result. I shed no tears over the loss of a mind-numbing hour for a project I have pulled out of anyway. "Doctor's orders" means no overnight shifts for a few weeks. They complained. I told them to ** **** **********!
One of the benefits of publishing my blog a day in lieu is that I can comment on what other bloggers say who publish on the same day. Devon Ellington - http://inkinmycoffee.blogspot.com - said in her entry for today about the Solstice, "Enjoy it. And take some time to connect with your community."
I like the sentiment in this and wanted to follow it up, but instead it threw up a problematic question I found hard to answer: Just what is my community?
I couldn't answer, so decided to go the start and look it up in the dictionary. It had 5 seperate definitions:
1. A group of people living in the same locality and under the same government. The district or locality in which such a group lives.
This could mean several things: the new cul-de-sac we live in, the people in our street, Leith, Edinburgh, Midlothian, the Central Belt, Scotland, the UK. It could grow bigger (to Europe?), but the point is do I feel part of any of these communities? Do I feel like I fit into their way of life or should I be trying to?
I have to ask myself, "who am I?" to get any further. The answer in this respect is simple. I am Colin Galbraith and I am, first and foremost, a British Subject. I am Scottish and within that domain I am a west-coaster. I don't consider myself to be an east-coaster - at least not a Leither or member of the Edinburgh swashbucklers - and I am certainly not European, but I am part of the new family that has moved into an already-established community in our street.
This, to me, is all pretty vague and doesn't help me answer the question of what my community is though.
2. A group of people having common interests: the scientific community; the international business community. A group viewed as forming a distinct segment of society: the gay community; the community of color.
"Interests" and "segment of society". This is more like it as things are getting broken down to see what is inside. This is not things I like or dislike - you won’t see "I am a movie fan". That doesn’t tell you who I am. This list is the things that I AM.
I am a writer.
I am a poet.
I am a husband.
I am a dad.
I am a computer worker.
You try this - it's hard when you have never considered it before.
Things I also am, but that don't really matter, I have mentioned here only because they were given in the examples in the dictionary as being "segments of society". Such as:
I am straight.
I am white. (actually, I'm pale blue. This IS Scotland!)
Has this helped define MY community? It's moving in the right direction.
3. Similarity or identity: a community of interests. Sharing, participation, and fellowship.
I am a member of a wonderful writing group.
I am a member of a fantastric poetry group.
I am a member of Leith's local artists and writers community by virtue of our interests.
4. Society as a whole; the public.
Again, this is too vague. I can't be compared with the rich folks living in the penthouses overlooking Leith's fashionable Shore district. Nor can I be compared with the homeless bloke who sits outside the record shop on Elm Row.
5. Ecology. A group of plants and animals living and interacting with one another in a specific region under relatively similar environmental conditions. The region occupied by a group of interacting organisms.
I am not a plant.
So, who is my community? The strongest feeling I get after having written through this and thinking all the way, has to be my fellow writers and artists, especially in cyber-world and in Edinburgh.
But I am also a member of a group of men who love their families, their wives and children.
Therefore, in order to respond to Devon's blog and "connect with my community", I think by the mere process of carrying through this exercise and writing it down, and from you taking the time to read it, I have, unwittingly, accomplished it.
Colin 12:28 pm
2 Comments:
Glad you're not a Plant, my friend!
;-)
;-)
Hee hee! This is hilarious! I loved the "I am not a plant" (does he protest too much) and "pale shade of blue". Here in the summer, I'm red, white and brown (sunburn and freckles)