Community

Every time I go to some big thing at Centre--a guest lecturer, a speech, a play of some sort--I always feel invigorated and yet slightly frustrated at the same time. There's always some incredible insight, or some important message, and I feel wiser for the world. But at the same time, I am always frustrated that I can't hunt down every person I've ever known offline/online/whatever in that exact moment, and drag them there and sit them down and say "You need to see this." It frustrates me that I can barely convey the message, which is reinforced so much by the experience, which is lost on me all together. It's not even enough to say "this is an awesome play, go see the movie," because the experience is just not the same. I suppose it wouldn't even be the same to drag friends from across the country, it's more forceful to sit and watch people you know in love in a place where you live draw frighteningly realistic parallels and make you think. The physical presence provided by theater is enough to drive any wavering point straight home.

The Laramie Project was beautiful and intense. Jeff's sleepless nights and the grueling work of the cast and crew paid off, and I believe it was a very important thing that happened on that stage. It made me think a lot--about hate, about people, about how we do important things in theater, about how we do important things in art. Overall, though, the biggest impact on me was the idea of community.

I've never been one to deny the fact that I live in a college bubble, and more often a smaller, more personal bubble. I always say "I live in Louisville, but go to school in Danville," or sometimes even opt out of the town name and just say "Centre." I need to realize that I live here, this is where I live, this is a community which I am part of, and I need to take responsibility for that.

There are things going on here that I found out about just last night, that I had *no* idea about. There are places I've never been, and my interaction with the people has been limited to say the most. So here's Wertle's message of the day:

Physical community is important. No matter how detached you feel from it, how different you are, how little you could care about what's going on down the street, YOU are a part of your community. You need to find a facet where you can affect it, and you need to take responsibility, because you live there, you are a part of it, you have a chunk of it to uphold. So, off with you now! Go on, take a look outside your window and see what you can. Take a few steps outside the bounds of your campus and figure out where you live. It's important.

As for me, I have a few goals to set for myself regarding my final year and a half at Centre...or rather, in Danville.