Millions of years ago when the human beings lived in a tribal habitat, things were so simple and yet organized. With the evolution, man has progressed and has come up with such vast technology and the advances in informatics just to reach to the end of a cycle! And what makes me say this?
Look around yourself. How many “individuals” do you think can “really” be helpful or contributing to the welfare of mankind? Each and every person is running his own race just to survive in the so-called “fixed societal patterns”. Family systems are seen to be collapsing paralyzing the collective consciousness. Having assisted living facilities for senior citizens is just a stop-gap arrangement till they take their last breath. What collective karma have we created for ourselves where it will take ages to nullify them, inviting a lot of suffering in the meantime? Don’t you think we need a more peaceful and happier place to live on this earth?
Man is a social animal. This phrase is true to its core. One thing is about being social and the other one is of an animalistic nature. We need a community around ourselves to survive and thrive but the definition of the community must be revised today. No more family systems exist in a true sense based on the biological basis because at times there is no coherence or the needs of the individuals in the families are different in many aspects right from physical, mental, social, and financial to the spiritual needs. The hierarchy is denied on account of personal bias and the opportunistic nature of the flow of tangible and non-tangible assets. This intergenerational trauma makes sticking to the (biological) family system difficult. Breaking the generational cyclical pattern is altogether another arena to deal with in a different context. Coming to the animalistic nature, we have seen how staying in herds has helped them survive all the natural conditions, changing habitats and they just don’t think to change their environments. So, what is it that is going to bridge this gap which has been created in the human societies where being together is important but we can’t build a truly healthy family system which serves us better in an impactful and sustainable way?
The answer should be to identify the needs of the individuals in the family and build a community living! Let’s breakdown this idea and make it simple. When I am referring to the individuals in the family it includes all; right from the children to the senior citizens including all; the children and adults with special needs. Birth of a child is an ecstatic event in some families but when you identify that the child has special needs it throws the family members in limbo literally where they are hanging and oscillating between two worlds. One world where they have been living earlier (to the diagnosis) and the other where they are finding ways to support and develop the child in all aspects. It is like a metamorphosis for them but only in a hidden manner where they may lose their personal and professional efficacy.
Similarly, with the advent of medical technology and sciences where the life span is expanding, we see a lot of cases of Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and senile changes not being aligned to the social norms. This puts the family in turbulence at the other end (of the system) till they find a savior to just hold the situation in a manageable way. In all this adjustment (I say adjustment because it is temporary not have a long-lasting or sustainable effect) we lose a lot of energy, resources, money (to be mentioned specifically and separately) and decades of time just generating too much of anxiety, stress, ill feelings and trauma losing a huge fragment of the collective consciousness. And what is that can help prevent this? Many of us might even relate to this with the recent example covid and lockdown in the whole world where people got disillusioned in their own ways about their families' roles, responsibilities and togetherness.
The answer to this can be an awakening and awareness in the first place (which we can see happening in the background) but the second part of inspired action comes when we start living in communities based on these needs with more acceptance to each other, happily and peacefully where we can deal with the challenges in a more structured way and ease all the individuals to be in their good spirits being more resourceful and helpful to the world around.
The so-called “Builders” in the society who show us the dreams of our beautiful homes with cozy vibes etc. should ponder over this and really come forward to give serious thought to this concept. We cannot just put the individuals with special needs in a separate zone because then our family souls are going to be fragmented and will always operate from a space of lack. This does not mean we divide the society into two separate segments as normal or special needs. After all we all are one! Its just that the requirements of normal individuals are different in terms of their mobility/safety/ security/ daily needs as compared to the individuals with different or special needs. So if one gets a place to stay which conforms to their needs right from the way it is designed and constructed keeping in mind the differences in needs; it may be possible to accommodate them in a better way in one township itself.
If this article ignites even one person’s mind, I will be happy considering that my thought process has connected to the right channel. The intricacies of how to build this can be dealt with further if it has to be undertaken as a project by anyone. More power to the ignited minds and may the awareness spread like fire!