Time forms a very important aspect in trying to see the bond that makes up a community. All expressions that try to explain the social structure of a particular society or community always put into consideration the virtual time span. Social practices practiced by certain communities are as a result of the time space within which these activities occurred. Time span and space are two variables that remain constant in explaining the activities of a community and the way the communities maintain these activities. The essay that follows will give an account of how time is a determining factor in describing what a community is and how it keeps together. Communities have certain aspects that hold them together through the different changing times and as a result, they have devised certain ceremonies and events that help to keep them together. The essay will first give an account of how time helps to shape a community, various events that have been formulated in order to keep the community together and the effectiveness of these events in keeping the community principles and values together.
Through the changing times, communities can be connected to time that forms the basis from which communities can be able to make sense of who they really are. Time has helped to define a range of different communal life, which might vary from a small unit like that of a family to a much larger unit like that of a nation or state. Time has helped people like feminist to develop a basis from which they can make claims about women harassment. The structure and continuation of a community depends entirely on the perspective of the community towards time. Communities have over time developed activities and practices that are related to the contents of time, the contextual aspect of time and vicissitudes of time.
Time provides a background upon which a community defines itself. There are varying time structures that have been formulated by communities that help them to create their individual time cultures. Due to these time structures, communities are able to come up with activities in which they engage in wholesomely as community members. These activities help to make the members of a certain community to cooperate and come together in time. Time helps to define communities. The way a community relates to time displays how time also relates to a community. Normally, time exceeds the life span of a human being and therefore, community boundaries in time cannot be confined to the members of that community. This is to imply that if a community is to continue existing, then it has to exceed the existence of the societal faction. To achieve this, there necessitates community to formulate and come up with methods, activities and practices that will help them to enhance a persons experience of time that goes beyond the normal prospect of experiences that occur in an individuals everyday life. This will involve the creation of an earlier period of life and future that go way beyond the individual.
This would entail that the community finds a way of reorganizing time or freezing it. In most cases, communities achieve this by coming up with things such as museums and the celebrating of holidays and other rituals which form a relevant potion in the freezing of time in order to keep the activities of a community intact without them fading away.
An example of a collective time when people came together was at the end of the Berlin war. The communities on both sides came together to reorganize their past memories so that they could have a better future where they can live in harmony. The governments of these countries, their educational systems together with the religious organizations all come together to make sure that the collective accounts that happened in the past merge together with the future to make it a conducive place for the different communities to interact with each other harmoniously.
One of the holidays that bring people together is the Christmas holiday. During this time, people gather around their homes and it forms a time when family and friends come together to celebrate an event that has been preserved over a long period of time. This event brings out a good religious quality that exits among the people. Christmas is a holiday that is celebrated by Christians throughout the world. It is a religious event that helps to bring together Christians from all lifestyles in a community to celebrate this great event. Community interaction is therefore enhanced due to the gatherings that occur in church and the people are able to remember a significant event that marked a change in the Christian ways of life. Several verbal and non-verbal cues are used during the Christmas period which includes hymns, the use of Christmas trees and the Santa Claus.
Museums are also part of the institution that help to connect people with time and brings back memories of past times. Museums form regions where people are able to gather and this helps to strengthen communal relationships. The people of a particular community are able to connect and have a central basis that brings them together in a common thing that helps them to link to each other. Museums hold ancient things that form a point of interest where people gather to commemorate on ancient things that bonds them together. These museums bring the attention of the people to realize how important time is to the well-being of a community.
Another event that brings communities together is fashion shows. The fashion shows use dressing and other cultural objects such as food and beverages. These fashion shows use art in bringing out the message. The people are able to familiarize with the art and are able to be taken back in time and recollect the things that happened. This recollection strengthens the community ties among individuals who share a common origin that is brought out at art galleries and fashion shows. This helps to bring a look back into time. The previous life of the community members is brought to the present time and this in turn helps to bring these people to a collective gathering presently.
In summary time forms a very important aspect in the lives of human beings. It is this recollection of things that happened in the past which help individuals to familiarize themselves with each other through the bond that is created from past events that form an important aspect of a community. Holidays such as Christmas holidays are times when family and friends gather in homes and churches to commemorate on a religious event that happened in the past but merges with the future to bring about different people from varying ethnic backgrounds to a celebrate something on a common ground. Time is therefore an important aspect when it comes to community living.