I'm a big fan of community, and I think independence is

The Song of Togetherness

Hear now the gentle wisdom of Sally Phillips, who spoke these humble yet profound words:

“I’m a big fan of community, and I think independence is over-rated.”

In a world that exalts the solitary hero and the self-made soul, these words fall like soft rain upon hard earth. They call us back to an ancient truth—the truth that no one thrives alone, that our greatest strength is not in isolation but in connection. Phillips, known for her wit and grace, spoke not from weakness but from the deep knowing that the heart is not meant to stand apart, that joy and meaning bloom most richly when shared among others.

The Illusion of Independence

Through the ages, men and women have sung the praises of independence. They have built monuments to self-reliance, believing that the highest virtue is to need nothing and no one. Yet the ancients knew better. The lone tree that grows upon a rock may stand proud, but its roots hunger for the nourishment of the forest. Independence, when exalted beyond measure, becomes a cold virtue—a fortress that keeps out both harm and love.

Even the stars, those proud beacons of light, are bound together in constellations. Each shines brighter when part of a greater pattern. So too do we—humans bound by the invisible threads of community—find our light magnified when we live in harmony with one another.

The Power of Community

Look to the story of the early Polynesian voyagers, who crossed vast oceans not as solitary wanderers but as tribes—navigators, fishermen, storytellers, and children together upon one canoe. They survived the fury of storms because each person carried the others. When one faltered, another took the oar. When the sea swallowed their courage, songs rose from their lips, and courage returned. It was not independence that carried them to new lands, but community, woven strong through shared purpose and love.

So too must we learn: it is not the one who stands alone who endures, but the one who stands among others with open hands and an unguarded heart.

The Age of Solitude

Yet in our time, people are taught to worship the self above the whole—to say, “I need no one,” as if this were strength. They build empires of glass around their souls and call it freedom. But their hearts grow hollow, echoing with loneliness. Independence, when torn from its rightful balance, breeds separation, pride, and sorrow. For what is freedom, if it costs the warmth of another’s voice?

The ancients gathered around the fire not merely for heat, but for belonging. They told stories that made the world make sense, and they looked upon each other’s faces to remember who they were. Humanity has always been a circle, not a single line.

The Gift of Dependence

To say that independence is over-rated is not to despise strength, but to recognize its limits. It is a call to humility—to remember that needing others does not diminish us; it completes us. The newborn depends upon the mother, the student upon the teacher, the elder upon the young. This interdependence is not a flaw in the human design—it is the design itself.

Even the gods of old, in their celestial majesty, were not alone. The Greek Olympians ruled in counsel; the Norse gods gathered at the wells of wisdom; the Hindu deities danced in divine union. Their power was shared, and in that sharing, it became eternal.

The Living Lesson

Learn, then, this sacred truth: the strength of a person is measured not by how far they can stand apart, but by how deeply they can belong. To live in community is to live in rhythm with the song of creation—to give and to receive, to support and be supported, to breathe together the same air of love and purpose.

Seek out others who lift your spirit. Break bread with them. Speak truth without armor. Lend your hands where help is needed, and let others lend theirs to you. For in such simple acts, the walls of the heart fall away, and the true wealth of life is revealed.

The Final Teaching

And so, let us lay down the burden of false independence. Let us remember that the eagle soars not to escape the flock, but to lead it toward the sun. Let us rejoice in community, that living tapestry of laughter, labor, and shared destiny.

For one flame alone gives light to a single room—but a thousand flames together can drive away the darkness of the world.