I’ve been pondering about what it takes to feel like an insider in a community. I certainly felt like a strong part of a community when I coached the soccer team of my daughter, Mariko. Our team, the Shooting Stars, was made up of a wonderful group of kids and great parents, and somehow we managed to win the city championship in Seattle for five years in a row. It was recreational soccer, of course. Still it was very exciting.
Now those girls have gone their different ways. Some are doing great. Others have faced challenges. I am no longer part of their lives. I’ve remained close friends with most of the parents but as a community, it has largely dissolved.
When my son was a Boy Scout, I got involved in the troop, and that was a nice community. We suffered together when we went ice camping, we cleared part of Discovery Park and planted native plants and we helped each others kids get merit badges. Again, it was a strong, if temporary community.
Being the editor of a local magazine has helped. In past jobs I would seldom talk to the same person more than once. Now, since I cover the local community, I frequently run into the same people again and again. People I have met in interviews or in business settings have become friends. And since my magazine is local I have more reason to follow local issues. That, too, has made me feel more a part of the community.
Yesterday, a young couple moved into their new house a couple doors down. When I welcomed to the neighborhood, I realized that after 25 years in this house I really am one of the old timers in the area. I told them about the people in the neighborhood, including our amazing neighbor who has been nurse, national champion cross country skier, master carpenter, pastry chef and now artist. I told him about someone down the street who could cause trouble. I told them about the block parties we do annually to reconnect.
Now I’m leading an effort to build a walk and bicycle trail that will link our Magnolia neighborhood more directly with downtown Seattle. It’s touchy because some neighbors in the area do not support the project. They worry they will lose their privacy if more people walk and bicycle past their houses. Today I walked the neighborhood going door-to-door to listen to their concerns. I now understand how they feel. But I still feel strongly that the trail through city-owned parkland will benefit the whole community and I’ve put a lot of effort into it. We hold regular meetings, we’ve put up a Facebook page (Magnolia Trail Community) and we received a $25,000 grant from the city of Seattle to hire a consultant to look at potential environmental and city permitting issues. There’s been great community support for the trail. A member of the city council recently called me and asked to walk with me along the site of the proposed trail. As we push forward with this effort I’m meeting many of the core people in the community who get things done. Turns out there are a couple dozen people who are involved in just about every improvement project. Now I am one becoming one of them. It feels good to be doing this. I’m beginning to feel like a real insider and I like it. Foreigners in Japan seldom have opportunities to get involved in projects like this. And it may be one reason it’s so hard to feel part of a community.