Why This Small Community?

Growing up, I discovered the daily newspaper. I read it. I saw the pictures of local events and persons of interest. I learned of community members passing away and read their obituaries. I gained a sense of long-term citizenship of these people in our town. I recognized their life stories as being just that and wondered how my story would develop over coming decades. My sense of all of that was elemental and shaky. But a coming of being was forming.

I read stories of news happening in the county, the region, the state. I began reading items that were of a larger region surrounding our community, of several states that were nearby. We took Sunday drives to neighboring states easily. Distances were not far. That’s a key feature of New England. We lived in Massachusetts. Very near were Vermont, New York and Connecticut. A little farther away were New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island. Each held more of a space in my brain as the years ticked away.

World news usually anchored the front page. Readers could build a sense of America working in the global community. The life of the United Nations was big in those days. We visited the UN in New York City. We read of Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the UN. We read of his activities to broaden the effectiveness of the UN to keep the world at peace. We became familiar with key players who gave leadership to amorphous entities.

Little by little the brain created connections among topics that grew into understanding life in general. Coming of age is the process, the tools available to young readers are many. Not all are followed. Not all are interesting to those young brains. Not all citizens are created equal in this morass of life’s complexity. Taking responsibility on a personal basis comes with effort and discipline. Most of the time that effort is unintended and accidental. Still, it happens for many people.

In my 8th decade of life, I look back on those places which were important in shaping me and my worldview. Strangely, one of those places is Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In those days back in the 1950’s, the city had less than 50,000 people. Still, it was a town of merit and purpose, aware of itself, its past and its destiny. I came out of the experience more adult and aware than I ever imagined. It just was. I now know a lot of that had to do with the type of community Pittsfield was then, and I suspect still is.

Why this small community? Was it its history of three centuries? Was it its serious commitment to classical cultures – music, art, theater, history, education? Why here? Why then and why now?

All questions we cannot answer but need to. All questions every community should ask itself. Are we building and maintaining a community that builds future citizens that will carry on our society? How much of the answer is intentional or accidental.

A lot relies on the answers. Let’s pursue this.

May 29, 2024

 

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