A Place to Be Yourself

In the recent Ted Talk episode, author and Youtube sensation John Green shared his firm belief in learning and discussed the importance of being in a community that encourages and inspires learning. Mr. Green attended a boarding school where learning was rampant and where everyone was enthused about learning and as a result, he grew a passion for learning; he compared the website Youtube as a channel to a learning community. In addition to writing books, Mr. Green hosts the Youtube channel Mental Floss where he and other hosts talks about different academic topics, using humors and their personal experiences to aid the videos and to attract viewers.

As humans, we want to fit in and be a part of a community that accepts us; we are social beings who love to relate to other humans and who love to connect with other people and best of all, we want to be in a community where we can be our true self.  For instance, millions of college graduates join the website MeetUp where members invite each other to events and many long-term friendships have formed from the meetings and hangouts of the website.  Sometimes, material goods do not satisfy us because they are not meant to be; they are just supplements to the important elements that can only fulfill us; one of the important element in our lives is being a part of a community. Those of us who have being a member of a church, clubs, school, sport teams, etc know how it feels like to be living in those groups; first of all, a community gives us a sense of our self.  We know ourselves by receiving the response from other people and more importantly, we grow as a person when we get and understand other people's reaction toward our behaviors, whether it is good or bad reactions. 

One downside is that sometimes the community can be more of a hindrance than any help, especially when the time for us to leave the group has arrived and when we are meant to look for another community to be a part of since we have out grown the group and its missions are no longer aligned with our goals in life. However, many people can testify that they have joined a community that has helped them grow in their walk in life. Youtubers, or also known as people who make YouTube videos, for instance, claimed the Youtube community gives them their identity and worth that no other community, or even their family, can. And many people are still on a search to find that right community to help them grow. Whether you are a part of a community or not, it is never to late to let your guard down, take chances, and search for one group that would help your personal growth. In the end, the purpose of life is not to amass material goods in life, the purpose of life is to live a purposeful one and a community can be the catalyst that helps us walk toward that life we are meant to live.