My response to "How does community help you thrive?"...

The new challenge from @NaturalMedicine came about after the down time with the recent Hardfork here on Steemit. A time many of us, myself included, would have had a very hard time with if we did not have some connection to community here on Steemit, being part of a "tribe". Personally I had made a commitment to bring my knowledge to share on this platform and it was with the support of the Natural Medicine and EarthTribe community that I could keep a level head, know that this would pass and the community would still be here with the valuable trove of natural medicine knowledge and other information.

When pondering their question: "How does community help you thrive?" the first community that came to mind, important for a healing journey is my circle of support that lifts me up in hard times and gives me strength with the necessary resources to keep me on the path to health and well being. I know that my outcome of healing from a spinal cord injury, and my course in life, would have been very different if I did not have my circle of support. See my post of My Healing Story - Overcoming Paralysis I did have a circle of support and I healed and that part of my life is now history as I continue forward, thriving.

Another aspect that gave me the will to pull through that injury and go on to thrive was my desire to return to my home in the forest.

Let me tell you why this place and this community, had such a strong draw for me.

It was the love of the forest and the people there that first drew me to build my home in the pines. The people were back to the landers and we all worked together to build our homes, we built our community hall together for our many gatherings, our kids, many who were home schooled, grew up together and we had the kids club to engage our kids in all sorts of activities. We had pot lucks and music nights, with many talented musicians. Many of the folks in the community also worked together planting trees, living together in tree planting camps for the spring and fall, becoming almost like family.

But alas, this tight community didn't last. When money came into the community through grants to build our homes and businesses, people no longer needed each other the same and they tended to want to live their separate lives more. That and the fact that the hall had burnt down and the kids had grown up, the sense of community wasn't the same anymore.

My experience being part of that community, where our families thrived, made me very appreciative of having tight communities, which leads me into my discovery of the wonderful communities here on Steemit and how I found my new "tribe" here.

I first entered Steemit seeing it as a gateway to cryptocurrency and a place to share my knowledge, knowledge that I wanted to see kept alive. Luckily for me I was welcomed by folks like @mountainjewel who encouraged me to come on board the Ecotrain. I started following them and participating in some of their challenges and QOTW and I was starting to see what wonderful communities there was on Steemit. I was finding people I could resonate with. Then Natural Medicine community started up, connecting me to more wonderful people and a wealth of knowledge. My original intent of making some cryptocurrency soon became secondary as I could see that what was happening here in the communities was much bigger and more valuable. We had a chance to come together, sharing our knowledge, support each other and growing together, making for brighter futures, creating a places of healing, where we could thrive!

The communities I was finding here were very welcoming, nonjudgmental, gave a sense of security where I could freely communicate and not be afraid to show my vulnerabilities. Here we were encouraged to share our stories and our struggles that we might learn from each other and help each other on our healing journeys. Together growing and thriving!

I am so looking forward to what the future might bring with the new developments here on Steemit, my new connections in the @earthtribe and growing friendships in the Natural Medicine and Ecotrain community.
Come check them out - #naturalmedicine #eco-alex (the driver of the ecotrain) and #earthtribe plus #tribevibes developed to connect all the tribes creating content that makes the world a better place.

Feel free to connect with me here on Steemit - @porters and tell me more about yourself and your thoughts on community.

Images are my own creation with my photos and one from Graphicstock