Sometimes it is easy to wonder if there is such a thing as a real community these days. With 24 hour news, social media and the internet, our own local communities can seem irrelevant.
However, our local communities are not weak, insignificant, or meaningless. We only need to look at the recent bush fires around Tasmania to see the power of local communities: people giving, volunteering and helping others to get through difficult times.
It is easy to get on board when the news crews are there. The test is when the news cycle has turned to the next tragedy, the next hot spot, and the rest of the world moves on.
What has really struck me (and made me proud to be a human being!) is seeing the plethora of small, grass roots' efforts to help local bushfire victims. In my community of Taroona, the local bakery was donating their tips to the bushfire effort, while the Taroona Community Association held a fundraising auction last weekend.
There are more, but the point is that none of this would happen without people deciding to do something in their own way. They’re not screaming about their efforts on the news, on facebook or twitter. They are just doing it because they care.
This is not to say that Tasmanians are more caring or altruistic than other people. My family in Queensland has been flooded for the third time this year, and they have also experienced the generosity of spirit of their local community.
What is important is that perhaps it is through these difficult and dark times that we see what we really have, and what is important: community.
