Do You Have a Tribe? Networking

Networking, (the second of the 8 I.N.T.E.G.R.8.E.D. values) pertains to our community or tribe.  Networking is the first step towards connecting and creating an inventory of the people and organizations with whom we interact. It’s our firm conviction that everyone should belong to a community or tribe.  Our community consists of the people that we count on for support, encouragement, accountability, correction, advice, etc. 

Western culture clearly values independence and shuns the notion of interdependence.  In-dependence is without dependence, but can we ever be independent?  We depend on everyone for everything!  Some of us just have the resources to pay for it.  Unless you grow your own food, make your own clothes, create your own fuel, build and use your own vehicle for transportation, etc, etc… You depend on someone to provide it.  The irony is that those who profess their independence may in fact be more dependent because they rely on their limited resources to carry out life’s many tasks and responsibilities. 

For example, someone who belongs to a community has shared resources and they are available help to support one another.  Someone who is independent accumulates all of their own resources and pays for services that they need.  Which person is experiencing more freedom?  Is it the one who asks someone in their community (who they know and trust) to watch their children for the night or the one who has to find some 16 year old to watch their kids for the night. 

I know that there is the question or issue of being obliged, which is probably the main roadblock to living in true community.  We think that, “If I ask someone to help me, if I borrow something, if I make any request then I will be obliged to them and then my life is not my own.”  If you are in community with people who truly have your best interests at heart and it’s your desire to give more than you get then this will not be an issue.  If you don’t have people in your life that you can borrow from or that you would watch their children (for free!), I would ask you why?  Is it the fear of being indebted to someone; inconvenienced, taken advantage of?  What are the tradeoffs? What would life be like if you knew that you always had people you could count on?