I've been thinking about communities and their crucial role in our lives. A community is a gathering place for people with similar interests, but the plural of community is communities. Communities serve different purposes. Communities can fulfill our need for engagement and knowledge, provide us with comfort and guidance, or offer us a secure place to seek solace.

In the current world climate, having many communities to lean on is critical for good physical and mental health.

Think about it. Where do you turn when you’re sad, scared, or lonely? When you want to network with others, where do you go? When illness strikes, who do you turn to for support and guidance? When you feel helpless or angry, who's there to listen to you?

Communities filled with empathetic people are a critical resource.

I remember thinking about communities in a new way when the junior United States Senator Barack Obama announced his presidential candidacy in early 2007. I read about the work he did in the early 1980s as a community organizer in the poorer neighborhoods of the South Side of Chicago. I had never thought much about community organizers before and was curious to learn more.

I learned that being a community organizer gives someone a feeling of commitment and purpose while helping those in need. 

In a New York Times article titled “Obama’s Organizing Years, Guiding Others and Finding Himself” (July 7, 2008), we learn that Obama worked tirelessly to help a multicultural, lower-income neighborhood wrestle with tough issues like asbestos removal, public safety, and employment. He formed a lifelong commitment to a community he loved.

I grew up in a tight-knit community where neighbors helped neighbors. Children played outside until dark, and parents kept their doors unlocked in case a child was thirsty, needed a bathroom, or had a problem.

Today, we live in a world that needs stronger communities, but I see them crumbling around us. We’re being pitted one against the other in ways I never imagined.

It’s a challenging time to be alive.

But I’m an optimist who still believes there are more good people in the world than bad, more kindness than evil, and more hope than despair.

Holding onto hope helps me survive and rise above anger that tries to distort my view of the world.

Anxiety and frustration are so palpable these days that many of us living with chronic illness may suffer physical and emotional stress because of the strain. I look to my mentors for strength and inspiration.  

A great example of a mentor who created a community of inclusion and understanding was Fred Rogers from "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood." Rogers was a larger-than-life mentor featured in a documentary called “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

I’ve always admired his goodness and compassion and find comfort in his thoughts:

“My mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”

I have many mentors, but that’s not what this piece is about. It’s about communities and creating your own to help you live a balanced, joyful, informed, and peaceful life.

Here are some communities I look to for strength, hope, and joy. They are varied and unique to my needs:

• Family, friends, and acquaintances  
• Mentors (both alive and gone.) Many are family, writers, poets, artists, world leaders, and spiritual leaders 
• The Multiple Sclerosis and Chronic Illness Community
• My gut health and migraine community
• The healthcare community of doctors, nurses, therapists, and researchers
• Communities of women, including empowerment groups, writing groups, book groups, and charity groups
• The spirituality community
• Communities that bring about positive change in the world 
• Classic film and book lovers groups
• Communities that love and protect all animals
• Arts and culture groups

What communities do you rely on? Who listens to your thoughts and ideas? Who inspires you? Who keeps you sane, balanced, or joyful? Who comforts you when you're feeling depressed or anxious? I'd love to hear your thoughts!