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Circles – Musing on Communities I loved talking to the ordinary people in our town but it is time for a change. I hope “Circles” will be that change and get me out meeting people and finding out what makes our area a good place to live. Since I have been traveling across Canada with only my trusty van and GPS to keep me company, I have spent a lot of time wondering about communities. I am writing this from a Manitoba Provincial Campground. Looking at it from a distance, it looks like a small village, there are gathering places and streets where people stay. I live at number 18 Breadon Bay in a small house on wheels. The neighbours on my street live in an assortment of homes, some on wheels and some close to the ground. They all seem like nice people who wave and say Hi when they see each other, and yet there is something missing. It is not a community. Why not? During the past year I have visited many cities, towns and villages. Some were isolated from the world by distance or water and mountainous terrain, while others looked much like my home in East Gwillimbury. I visited with many people from all walks of life. Just to mention a few, I stayed with a woman who was a BC Marriage Commissioner and joined families together. I also stayed with a doctor who had his office in his home but traveled often to outposts to bring them medical help, and I stayed with a man who squatted on his land, shopped for groceries in the dumpsters, and didn't pay taxes. He did however share what little he had with those in need. I was often hosted by folks who didn't feel connected to the geographic location in which they lived, but claimed to be members of online communities. I began to wonder what makes successful communities and how each person, no matter who they are, is important to that success. East Gwillimbury is comprised of Holland Landing, Sharon, Queensville and Mount Albert, along with a number of small country villages. We sit inside of York Region, which butts up against the GTA, tucked into Ontario, which claims a place in Canada. Can each of these be called a community? Does size matter? Can a real sense of belonging happen if you live in a mega city or does it work best in small, intimate groupings? While I was at York University a few years ago, I took a course about the way technology is changing the places we live. We talked about online communities, bedroom communities, and work and play communities. It seems you don't need to live in a place to call it your community, it doesn't even need to exist in the real sense. Can we belong to many communities? Is it the individual that makes the community or does the community support us in being individuals? As I write, I realize I have no answers to these questions. I am not a sociologist who would be able to pull a technical answer out of her hat. I am only a person who wonders. I wonder sometimes if life is like a pond with a stone dropped in the middle. As it sinks we see circles forming on the water. Each circle is separate and yet each is a part of the pond. Each one has an effect on the other and on its surroundings. As the ripples subside, we realize that without the stone, there would be no movement. Is that how communities work, separate and yet related, unique and diverse, with only the water in common? “Circles” will be an effort to look at some of these questions. I would like to see how the ripples connect. Our roots are firmly planted in rural village life. Does that change the way we think about where we live? How involved do we have to be to truly feel a part of the whole? What makes this a great place to raise children, to 14 The Bulletin | August 2010 www.thebulletinmagazine.com
work and play, and to grow old? As the news portrays an uncertain world, how will our corner of the globe weather the storms to come? Are there new things that we have to consider? I don't have all the answers, heck, I am not even sure of all of the questions but I think, with your help I can bring these ideas to life each month. Reading back over the past couple of paragraphs I think this sounds like a serious undertaking, and yes, I suppose it has the potential to be, but most of all, I want to continue to look at the things that seem ordinary because they are such a part of our everyday lives. It should be fun and more than that, it might even remind us of how wonderful it is to live in this place at this time. I have already interviewed a few people and institutions that I think are integral parts of East Gwillimbury and will be writing about them over the next couple of months. Don't be shy, join me while I muse about the people, places and things that make this a special place. Who knows where it will go. Send your ideas or suggestions to bulletin@xplornet.com. Put the word ‘Circles’ in the subject line. Vicki Pinkerton lives on a small farm just outside of Mount Albert when she is not driving the roads of Canada. She is a practicing life coach, a writer and adventurer who wonders about many things. www.questacrosscanada.com WANTED: York Region Community Choir Piano Accompanist required For details, please contact: 905-727-4575 email:renatesdesk@look.ca MOUNT ALBERT TAX COMPANY “The low cost provider of professional tax services” Ian Hawkins ACCOUNTING & INCOME TAX 905.473.6522 www.t42.ca PO Box 1028,19185 Centre Street, Unit 2 Mount Albert, ON L0G 1M0 (next to Post Office) 1.866.355.5759 • f. 289.803.0041• c. 416.528.9639 If you are looking for a copy of the magazine, you can now get it at www.thebulletinmagazine.com www.thebulletinmagazine.com August 2010 | The Bulletin 15
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