Before we can have a full utopian community for everyone we must first create a utopia for our individual communities. Between all of us none of the communities seem to work toward the betterment for themselves, just their individual groups, i.e. houses, covens, den, etc. We need to do more than just tolerate each other; we need more of an understanding of each other, and more than that getting along and have respect for each other. Sure some of us have ideas that may conflict, but that’s what makes a community; different people getting together to learn from each other. We need to respect others opinions and beliefs and learn from them to better ourselves and our understanding of the different communities by treating them with honor and by showing deference, esteem and reverence.
From my interviews, the most common answer was “A utopia in any form can not happen so why even try?” This is probably the main reason why we don’t co-exist better right now; if people don’t even try then it will never happen. What we need to do first is try to get that idea out of our heads and move on to trying to better ourselves and once that is accomplished, move onto bettering each other. There is much that we can do, however many won’t even open up to their own desires and there the problem lies. Conflict of interest is bound to be even more frequent as long as people are concerned with themselves only.
Another big issue I’ve seen is that people don’t listen when others share their experiences and beliefs; they only listen for what they want to hear or what they think they can us to defend their own point. This is one thing that first must be fixed in the individual community. There are other beliefs than just your own. How can you really believe something when you can’t even listen to others beliefs? I think a lot of this has to do with a lack of knowledge about their own community and in their ignorance can’t respect others views.
There are a few things we can do to better our own community before we move onto a full utopia of all communities. First, we can establish a common goal/s between ourselves. By seeing that we all have ideas in common it will help us work together. To help that along there can be a realistic time frame established to keep us on track and focused. Another thing that could be done is better communication between the houses/covens/den/etc. Once we can communicate ideas to others we can understand them better. One way of doing this is to find a festival or gathering of a house/coven/den and ask to come and present something from your house/coven/den. This presentation could be a poem, play, or speech. The more communication we open the more understanding we will gain. With just a little commitment these things could be done very easily and without a whole lot of effort. What do you think?
Education is another key factor in understanding other communities. Learning about vampyrism or magick, for example, can clear up misconceptions and help you see similarities between your community and others. Talking to people from other communities and asking them questions is the best way to know what the community is about and what their beliefs are. Also finding books and websites can help you gather information and possibly questions for the other communities. By showing an interest to learn about them can promote an interest for them to learn about you, thus creating a line of information and communication. Knowledge, after all, is power but wisdom is learned from others.
Once we better our own communities only then can we move towards a utopia between all the communities. To accomplish that is not much different from the steps needed to better our own community. Communication is the biggest factor here. People need to learn about the other communities, their workings, and people in leadership positions, their ethics and workings, etc. Attending another communities festival or gathering could open up a lot of communication, and you could also speak-up about your community as well. Another good idea is to have each house/coven/den submit a paper to form a collective idea about how a utopia can be accomplished between all communities. Another idea is to form a utopian “committee” of sorts and have a few leaders from each community sit on a council to oversee everyone and to communicate goals and ideas to their respective communities. This could open up a massive communication line with a lot of potential.
To get others to listen to your view you are going to have to be someone that looks like they know what they are talking about. Conduct yourself at all times in a manner which is befitting one who claims to be honorable and genuine. Allow others to share their views first and then present your own in gentle terms. Respect others as you would like to be respected and show thoughtful consideration in your actions and in your speech at all times. Develop the strength of will to fight against any odds for what you know in your heart to be right. These few things will show others that what you have to say might actually mean something and they will listen. If more of us present ourselves in this way we can get a lot more accomplished and it will end arguments and disputes and can promote a better image for you and your community.
Since starting this project I have formed my own Egroup called Utopia Nocturna to try to put some of these ideas into action. Even with all the negativity about a utopian idea I have had an amazing turn out. The old saying from a movie comes into mind, “If you build it, they will come”. This just goes to show what a little effort and patience can turn up if more people in the community tried to help each other and learn from each other. I have learned that if you reach out far enough you can find people with your same ideas and dreams and you can work together to try to promote your ideas and dreams.
A utopia between all the communities is not a simple task but with a little time and effort anything can be accomplished. We must first start by uniting our own communities to gain stability before we can move on to uniting all the communities. We must get the word “cant’” out of our vocabulary and set a positive example for ourselves and everyone else to follow. Communication is the prime factor and learning from each other to better ourselves. Who knows; maybe in a few years time we will have made a great leap towards the utopian goal.
