I wonder how many people I’ve looked at all my life and never seen.
John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent
I often think about this line as I ponder all things community and the things that might connect or disconnect us. We can know people without really knowing them. Years of connection and encounter can give rise to a familiarity that dulls curiosity. Comfortable community superficiality puts an end to any further discovery.
Imagine – as community builders should – what it also feels like from the other side: to be a familiar presence on the street, in the workplace or even in the family, yet still feel unseen.
Surely community building can stretch beyond shit icebreakers to encounters that break through familiarity and help us see one another afresh 🙂