always

I value isolation but I value community a little bit more because I feel like we share this Earth and a strong sense of community helps find better common grounds, in my opinion. I don't feel like community should be over involved but I feel that a stronger community makes for more peaceful and stable isolation when one needs it. I also see stronger communities with less crime and more respect and I aspire for that.

this, very much. it;s a bit complicated though. I have a lot of trouble speaking up and talking to strangers. this is probably why I have no real friends at church. all the other people my age have been going since they were kids and know each other. they already have their own groups and don't seem to want to expand much. but maybe that's a little unfair since I haven't been able to go much in recent times, and I'd never think they did it on purpose. but it's been that way at school and work too. even when people like me it never seems to be enough to ask me to hang out, go out to lunch, etc. Most of the time I don't mind because I crave relaxing in peace and quiet, but I frequently get bouts of loneliness that seem to get worse as I get older and see everyone my age with lots of friends.

one of many reasons I love studying pioneer times is because of the strong sense of community everyone had. neighbors looked out for each other, small villagers shared what they had. I'm envious of that so much. modern people generally don't care about helping anyone but themselves.

^AudreyFreak: I commented on one of your articles once, complimenting your writing and asking you a question about a specific topic (fashion article). You never responded to me. I didn't take it too offensive but it did make me think that you preferred to be left alone (not bothered) or that you just really didn't want to respond to me (but you responded to me elsewhere). I only bring this up because what you wrote makes me think you might not always recognize when other people try to reach out to you, as I did. If the problem was that you just didn't want to respond to me specifically then I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable. If that is how you feel then I can leave you alone and not respond to your comments if you prefer that.

That being said, if you were not bothered by me then I would like to say I agree completely with your second paragraph. I also love the strong sense of community from older time periods and don't see that anymore, as it gets lost with big cities.

sorry, I can answer if you give me a link to the poll. I often don't think to check after I've left a comment.

AudreyFreak: I posted the comment on your article so you'd get it directly, then after a few weeks I deleted it because I assumed it just bothered you since there was no response. I'll just send it as a message, so it doesn't get lost in all this group participation.