What can you give and what do you want?

On September 24 I decided to do my small part to Occupy Wall Street. This was during the time in the protest when they were concerned about having enough food and enough dietary variety. After a brief e-mail exchange with someone I decided upon a course of action. I would go down to a local farmer's market here in New Jersey, fill my trust suitcase with fruits and vegetables, truck down to Liberty Plaza, drop them off, observe a bit and be on my way.

At that time it had been less than a month since my girlfriend of six and a half years told me to hit the bricks and I still wasn't in a particularly good place. I knew that I couldn't give advice or be there for people to vent to or anything else. I was walking wounded and knew that I would be a burden if I stayed there too long. However, food given by a crazy person is just as good as food given by the sane and stable so that is what I did.

Many other things happened that day(including events which made me realize that the police had 0 interest in preventing violence at the following protest) but they are a story for another day. What this post is about is something that I have been asking myself ever since September 24. Two questions that as the talk of community, revolution, and new ways of doing things roil everywhere from CNN to this very web page.

What can I give to a community? In order for there to be a community there requires a common pool of resources. Not just food and shelter but people who perform the various and sundry tasks that are required by the members of the community. A community that can give nothing is nothing but a crowd.

The second question is one that many people find distasteful but I think it needs to be asked. What do I want from a community? In my experience there are some questions that people ask and answer in their heart but for various reasons don't give those questions voice. In some cases, perhaps, that would be fine but in many cases if you don't consciously articulate these questions they will haunt you. This is the case with this question. If you realize and articulate what you want from a community then you can either look for that or work on not wanting it anymore(if possible).

So, in summary. If you decide that you want to participate in any form of community, from one of the Occupy movements to the group of like minded people who live near you to any one of the myriad options we have for a community I have a small bit of advice. Know and be able to clearly articulate what, exactly, you can give to the community without bitterness or deprivation on your part. Also, think of what you want from the community you join in order to feel like you aren't being taken advantage of.