Saturday, January 31, 2009

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Purpose: Peace of mind & connectedness

Resilience means keeping the local division of labor intact. - It is definitely not self-sufficient isolation. Consciously developing resilience at multiple levels and inviting voluntary participation from a variety of people creates a model which attracts people to a community - whether to work, learn, connect, live or worship.

We develop community resilience by looking at daily activities to ask what we depend on for our quality of life, whether we can do it for ourselves, and which individuals have the skills and heart for making a difference in these areas? The result is greater peace of mind and connectedness. It makes sense to start developing resilience before it is needed.

As an organizing principle, the resilient community accommodates various levels of interest and commitment. The members honor the independence and responsibility of each person in the group. A truly resilient community will exhibit the kind of self-sustaining social infrastructure that can't come top-down. The result is a freely chosen unity around a series of worthwhile goals. Done well, an open-source effort at community resilience inspires and informs people in other communities to create their own version.

-Landon