A Chance To Reconnect

By Kara Loftin

Is it 2005 already? With each year, time seems to pass a little faster and I find myself wondering where the year went. Change has been the theme for the last year of my life. 2004 brought a lot of change for me, including finishing my master’s degree, getting a new job, and moving back to Wake Forest. As downtown manager for Wake Forest’s Downtown Revitalization Corporation (DRC), I have met a lot of people and learned a lot about Wake Forest. However, the biggest change this year for me has been one of perspective.

I spent most of January 2004 in Cape Town, South Africa, conducting research for my master’s thesis on sense of place and what connects people to a community. Under the oppressive apartheid regime in South Africa, millions of people were forcibly removed from the homes and land where they had lived for generations and placed into homogeneous townships with other members of their race. The families were moved from their homes inside the city to townships that were sometimes an hour’s train ride outside the heart of the city. One of the things that they seemed to miss the most was that connection to the heart of the city, where they could walk to work, the children were close to their schools, and the grocery store was just a few blocks away. Apartheid destroyed that and moved them far from the only homes that most of them had ever known. Families were divided and communities were destroyed. Their homes were razed and their land was taken from them without any compensation. 
The first instinct of these people who were so violently removed from their homes was to recreate their communities, even under the worst circumstances imaginable. They grieved for their losses, but they also yearned for that sense of connection to something larger, a community as a whole. They formed sport clubs, cricket leagues, women’s organizations, and religious communities to create that sense of connection and belonging that they once had. They established small businesses when they could and built schools, houses of worship, and community centers. The connection to the people around them was as important as their physical surroundings.

The perspective I gained in Cape Town, talking to these people who fought tooth and nail against apartheid, is that our connection with the people around us is what ought to be most important. What we should remember from these frantic, crazy days are the connections we’ve made with others – our family, friends, and people we meet on the street – not how much money we’ve made or promotions we’ve gotten. The people in Cape Town and all over South Africa that were removed from the only homes and communities they had ever known fought for that right to live, worship, and work where they wanted, love who they wanted, and call all South Africans their neighbors, not just people of the same race.

We, as Americans, do not have to fight for those rights. We can live where we want, work where we want, worship our chosen religion, and organize ourselves at will. What we should learn from Cape Town is their sense of community. Our society is so fast-paced that huge chunks of time pass in the blink of an eye and all we can remember that we’ve done is check e-mail, answer our mobile phones, and work. A lot. We shop where it’s most convenient, we go through the self-checkout line at the grocery store because it’s quicker than dealing with a person, and we eat in the restaurants that are closest to our houses, have the fastest service, or where the kids insist on going ... again and again. We barely have time for our own families. How can we find the time to fit in anything else?

The new year gives us all a chance to reconnect with ourselves, our neighbors, and our community. With the frantic pace of the holidays now behind us, the winter and coming spring should be a time for a rebirth of sorts – a rededication to the community around us. Make the time to get to know your neighbors and support your community.

Downtown Wake Forest provides lots of opportunities for you to do just that. Like in Cape Town, downtown is the heart of the community in which you have chosen to live or may be considering moving to. There are places to find nearly everything you might need in a shopping trip. Downtown, businesses range from stores that have been here for decades to shops that have just opened. The restaurants, businesses, and stores are all owned and operated by your friends and neighbors who need you to help keep the doors open. Make the time for yourself and to connect with the community around you. Bring your family downtown to the variety of special events sponsored by the DRC or by the businesses downtown. 

Make your New Year’s resolution to find the time to support your neighbors and make your mark on your hometown. And take advantage of this time to reconnect.

Kara Loftin is the downtown manager of the Wake Forest Downtown Revitalization Corporation. She may be reached at 441-9551 or kara@wakeforestdowntown.com. Visit the DRC’s website at <www.wakeforest-downtown.com>.