In My Opinion: Past summer brought back an increase in community care and belonging
By ANIKA MUNIR
The sense of community. What does that really mean? Not all of us can put that feeling into one specific word. Although, it is one thing we all seek in our lives. It’s the feeling of belonging, of having people who care, a place that feels like ours, and a connection that grounds us in the world around us.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, I think it can be said that this summer felt like the first time in years that life was truly back in full swing, and the possibility of connection was real again.
The feeling of building community was back within reach. After years of the pandemic, many of us had lost touch with what the sense of community felt like, and we had to rebuild it, or, for some, it was even starting from scratch again.
From 2020 through 2024, we all found ourselves adjusting to social settings in different ways. At first, it meant staying home and limiting our interactions. Gradually, we learned how to re-enter the world, but what did “normal” even look like at that point?
The word “hybrid” became more popular than ever, capturing the new ways we lived, worked, and connected. But the idea of normal was far from it.
However, this past summer, with announcements of full-time returns to the office by corporations and politicians and a surge of social events, it felt like a clear sign that things were finally returning to normal, the kind of “normal” of a life in which we did not know about during the pandemic.
The years 2023 and 2024 gave us a small taste of re-entry, but this summer felt different. It did not feel like a pilot. It felt like a pattern and a reminder of pre-pandemic life.
Lunchtime crowds returned, the line at the coffee shops grew, and the quiet corners of Toronto filled back in with the sound of people.
People could be together again: attending concerts, playing volleyball on the beach, or enjoying a meal along Queen Street East.
In the Beaches East York community events held like the Canada Day Parade, Beaches Jazz festival, Farmers Markets and concerts highlighted how the community is coming back stronger and more alive with attendance levels increasing.
And yet, even as life felt fuller this summer, COVID-19 has not simply disappeared, it remains a quiet issue shaping how we show up for one another and is still impacting many.
If this summer brought the community back to life, it also reminded us that community is something we practice with patience, with care, and with an open invitation for everyone to take part.
