They call it community I think

If you had asked me 6 months ago what I thought the word community means I wouldve said something about people living together... but I really didnt have much of an idea. I had experienced community for short periods of time, such as camp or mission trips but because it was only for a few weeks at the most I dont even know if we had formed a community properly when we left eachother.


Now, 6 months after leaving home I have a very different idea of what community looks like.
I am kind of living a bit of a secluded life out here in the wilderness of Muskoka, Ontario... I dont ever really leave and I literally dont know anyone except the people that I live with here. 14 people. They have become my family, my friends, my church, my mentors, my small group, my fellow students... everything. I live with them, I work with them, I go to church with them, I learn with them, I take my days of with them, I eat with them, I sleep in the same room as them... I am with them all the time.
There is some wonderful beautiful things that come with this and there are also some things that are hard, reasons why people choose independent lifestyles over community.

I have found that there are challenges in finding perspective outside of my life here...I become so connected with the people here that the events of the day, my moods and emotions, what the next day will hold, how I see people is all experienced in relation to how it also effects my team. It can be hard to have nowhere to go to be away from these people, I dont have anyone else so when I feel frustrated or upset I cant get too much further away from the situation than the next room. And of course, even when two people spend a lot of time together, the different personalities and coping mechanisms and perspectives come together in a messy wonderful colourful blend of humanity... but add another 12 people in there and things can get pretty crazy.

But there are also so many beautiful things that I experience living in such closeness with a small group of people... Like when we get to sit for hours and talk about life because we live in the same room and have nowhere else to go anyway. Or when you can sit on the toilet and talk to someone in the shower and dont think twice about it. When you see eachother first thing in the morning and last thing at night, there isnt much to hide anymore. Living like this has opened up a whole different level of honesty and interdependance and vulnerability than I have experienced before this.

Even though there are times where I want to lock the door to my room and not share the bathroom and not have people ask me how I am and actually want an answer... I dont think I could ever go back to living independantly after experiencing the joy of community like this.