Lone Wolf: A case against community

 

Native Americans find themselves today in a terrible state where their way of life is being threatened by outside forces almost as mush today as in years past. We can observe that within any culture during times of hardship people band together in an attempt to unite and better equip themselves to face whatever is menacing them.  

However, the concept of community, thought and identity has been related to Native Americans throughout time. I will not be too bold to say that a community identity has little value, but I do not want to be a part of it. When I was young I struggled greatly to fit in, I didn’t have too many friends and to this day do not have a large number of people I would call friend. My story is one that led me to believe that I do not belong to any group, nor do I want to. Whenever you become part of a group you give up part of yourself. People do things they would never do one their own but do these things in the name of the group. It is an innate human yearning to want to be a part of something but I have come to terms to shed that away.

This most certainly does not mean that I do not enjoy people or their company, but I put little faith in groups and when people align with them. Those who call friend have at time not agree with me about this and I have witnessed them turn into people I do not recognize on occasion. This has caused me great pain at times, but I have also learned not to begrudge them for wanting to indulge into a group atmosphere. Regardless I treat people as individuals and it is that relationship on a personal level that lets me cherish my friends for who they are.  

I have learned that I can accept myself better when I’m not trying to fit in. If you like me for who I am, I am grateful. If someone does not, I’m not changing. My notion of self acceptance will always be greater than any yearning to belong to anything or anywhere. The pack can have their values, I have my own.