This phrase was one of the predominant messages I took away from the Asset Based Community Development conference I attended last week.  It was reassuring to spend three days with over 200 people who believe that our individual and collective assets are the essential components of community life, but the biggest thrill by far was meeting John McKnight. I only learned of him recently and I haven’t read his and Peter Block’s book The Abundant Community, but I was moved to tears when he shared stories of what is possible when we focus our intentions in support of one another.

An article on the Abundant Community website says:

There is a new worldwide movement developing, made up of people with a different vision for their local communities. They know that movements are not organizations, institutions or systems. Movements have no CEO, central office, or plan. Instead, they happen when thousands of people discover together new possibilities for their lives. They have a calling. They are called. And together they call upon themselves.

And yet culturally, our predominant thinking doggedly reverts to the notion that ‘someone’ is going to rescue us. That if things get really crappy, someone will bail us out.  They won’t. The kind of support we’ll get from government and institutions and care agencies, especially in the event of a disaster (even just the ‘disaster’ of aging), will pale in comparison to the kind of support we can give each other

It’s not easy to step out of our comfort zones, though. It can feel risky to even speak with an unknown neighbour down the street, let alone have the audacity to dream a big dream about what kind of community we really do want in our lives.

Last October I co-hosted a Community to Live and Die In event. Ten of us got together to start trying to clarify the vision of what such a community might look like and how it might come into being.

I knew going into the event that three of the people closest to me needed to leave a little early, but I hadn’t anticipated the energetic impact their absence would have on me. With each departure, my ability to function waned. I was rattled and added little of value to the conversation from that point forward. When the event was over I wasn’t sure how much progress we’d made, and I felt a bit demoralized about my diminishing contribution as the day proceeded.

Since then I’ve made some small steps toward clarifying what Community to Live and Die In might look like, but I don’t have a clear sense about what to do next. I’m still feeling my way.

The ABCD conference helped me understand that this is okay. It reinforced the idea that thinking big and starting small is actually an essential component in growing any initiative, and that all major change starts from the ground up. Perhaps the visioning session we hosted in October was a bit more than I was ready for at the time, but I’m still glad we did it. The experience helped me realize that clarifying my own thoughts and knowing where I stand is essential. There was nothing wrong with thinking big. I just needed to start small.

In the words of John McKnight, “Small and personal is the heart of the whole thing.”

Is there a vision you hold for your life or the world that you can take one small step toward realizing?  Let me know, I’d love to hear!