Social Patterns
One of the best things about growing up in Olney was the experience of community: how folks would create a culture together. Families, churches, clubs, businesses—all joining together to weave the life we shared. The experience of community here had a profound impact, informing so much in my life, including my choice of profession.
Creating a healthy community takes work, as we all know. Every member of a community has a part in how the community thrives, as a whole, as well as how individuals and all the small groups that can be found within the community flourish.
And we’re all human, occasionally making mistakes or having a bad day. Sometimes there can seem to be patterns. Part of our nature, as humans, is that we, with varying degrees of awareness, seek out patterns as part of processing our experience of reality. There’s just too much to take in, so we create categories to simplify what we perceive. Everyone everywhere does this.
In my high school class, we tried to avoid cliques, for everyone to be friends with everybody. There were still friend groups, but they were open enough where we could hang out with folks in other circles. Doing that took awareness and effort, but it the end, everyone benefitted.
Growing up here, seemed like there were informal groups based on status or class. As an adult studying sociology and later social work, I wondered how accurate my childhood perceptions were. For groups that seemed to have more influence, I wondered if there could be a way to “level the playing field,” so to speak; to make things more fair. Since moving back, I’ve been curious what I would find; if my childhood perceptions were accurate or imagined, possibly influenced by media depictions of class which then got projected onto experiences.
Some say reality is a hologram, with every element a reflection of the whole; every microcosm a reflection of the macrocosm. Just like in the rest of our society, there are definitely socioeconomic differences in Olney. That said, the city, itself, struggles with finding adequate financial resources to manage basic needs like water and street maintenance. We live in a strange and difficult economy. Beyond that, I’m still not sure.
I’ve heard it said, from more than one source, that classism is real here, not just something that was in my imagination. Like last names matter and effect business and housing opportunities.
There’s a saying that fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. But sometimes birds eat the fruit, fly off and plant the seed far from the tree. For our community to thrive, it’s important that we give folks a chance to prove themselves, regardless of their last name. Mindfulness around being open to others and to be inclusive as often as possible is a worthy effort that supports Olney thriving— every individual as well as all the groups within our community.
Writing to encourage everyone that the extra effort to include others, as much as possible, is good not only for the person you’re considering including, but also for our lovely community as a whole. Olney is such a sweet spot, such a blessing— this is another way to help it grow and shine that benefits everyone!