The Importance of Community

Hi everyone and welcome to this month’s blog post.  Today I want to have a chat about the importance of community. 

Whilst that might sound like a no-brainer,  Western society tends to be more individualistic rather than collectivistic, and the idea of community is most likely not in the forefront of people’s minds, especially in large cities. 

​In the last 20 - 30 years, members of society seem to have ramped up an entitled “what’s in it for me?” mentality (in Australia, anyway), rather than thinking about how their actions might affect the people around them, or doing something because it’s the right thing to do.  People may live in a suburb, a parish, a city, which are all communities, but may not think of themselves as such in these terms unless it’s something specific to them, eg LGBTQIA+, film-makers, a school, a sports team etc.    But communities can also be online as well as in real life and I want to discuss how they are important, especially to creatives.

Like-minded people who ‘get it’ 
Not everyone is creative, and not everyone understands what it is like to be creative.  I think this is especially noticeable in governments who dismiss the arts at the first sign or budget cuts and don’t provide support, and schools who don’t have dedicated art and music programmes.  To be creative means to be sensitive, to want to express yourself in a certain way, to make it your life’s work, not just some hobby.  Other creatives get that and understand your passion.  They can give you encouragement, or a sympathetic ear when trouble comes your way.

Encouragement 
You can’t create in a vacuum.  Well, you probably can but you’re going to feel pretty isolated and it won’t be sustainable.  I think living through the pandemic during the last couple of years has showed us all exactly how isolation feels.  Creating art and then receiving encouragement and feedback from your community boosts your desire to continue creating, which means you will improve and get better at your craft.  

Support
This is a big one for me.  I had a horrible experience over a decade ago, which killed my love of composing stone-dead.  I tried to get back on that horse, but my desire to compose didn’t come back for over a decade.  Even though I was at uni and surrounded by music students, they didn’t understand what I went through, being (mostly) young and not having a similar frame of reference, or had been through relatable experiences themselves.  I am in the process of creating a community that is there to support composers who have been through a really shitty experience, to help them get back on their feet and continue doing what they love.  I just wish that I had been part of such a community back then; maybe I would have got that passion back sooner.
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Friendships and networks
When like-minded people come together on a regular basis, friendships can occur.  I belong to an online micro-community in a completely different sphere and there is a core group of people that I would consider my friends, even though we have never met in real life.  You can also develop networks within your community and paid work may arise from this networking.  So you see, community is so important, whether it’s online, or in real life.

Thanks for reading.  I hope that you found this article useful and I’ll see you next month.  Bye for now.  
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