losing and gaining identity in community

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The term ‘community’ has a lot of definitions but they all pretty much summarize the same thing. It is a cluster of people living in an area with common aspects. Even though, we term it as ‘people’ each has their own individuality. Even though it is considered that a community usually consists of people with common beliefs, it might not be true in a few cases.
      A community can help individuals find their identity or can be a way where they can explore themselves and their beliefs. World to a new born can be pretty confusing as there are a lot of aspects and perspectives of a single word called life. Mostly, parents or guardians do an amazing job of helping an individual find their identity as they have earned their learnings from the community they live in. It makes life seem much more simple with a few common foundations or beliefs established. It is quite amazing as to how a community works. People in a community find individuals who are similar to them. This makes it much more easier to understand as to what their identity is. They have elders within the group of people who make it easier for the ongoing generation to adapt by teaching them skills, beliefs, rules of the community.
      Every coin has two sides and so does the term ‘community’. False or forced identity is very commonly seen. Not all the beliefs of the community may be right as at the end of the day those are just beliefs by human race themselves and humans are known to make mistakes. This is a major reason individuals end up losing their identity. In certain cases, orthodox communities can be very demanding and restricting. They bring in a fear into the new generation as change or opposition is seen as a community violence. They are not accepting of the thoughts put forward by the individuals. Lack of support, fear of change and consideration of negative comments suppress the young thinkers to express themselves. This causes the individual to lose their identity and to adapt to something convenient and convincing.
      Community plays a major role when it comes to helping individuals find or lose their identity.  Each one of us are blessed with a mind that helps us think for ourselves. We need to stand for what we believe in as our beliefs make us who we are and can be considered as identity of the individual. Our surroundings teach us a lot of lessons. Our surroundings show us aspects of life. Our surroundings show us a wide range of beliefs but at the end of the day, the power of choosing is in our hands. This is the way we establish an identity in a world with vivid ranges of communities. There may be many keys in the world but just one key fits into the lock. Many keys can be compared to wide range of beliefs that help form an identity and the lock can be compared to an individual and the perfect key that fits into the lock can be considered as the individual’s Individuality. In order to find the perfect key for the lock we need to learn to question beliefs and not to settle with an identity that is comfortable or convineant shown by the community. By doing so, we not only learn to embrace the good preachings and teachings by the community but also learn to stand against what we feel is unacceptable. This helps the individual form an identity regardless and community acts as a catalyst in the process.