Mycelia is Reslience

How resilient are you?

Think of a spider web. The more finally webbed, closely meched the threads, the stronger it is likely to be.

The same analogy can be used when thinking about human resilience. The more social connections we have, the more resilient we are to negative external forces. COVID showed this.

Strong resilience in a community is called community gold (and is talked about a lot).
It's the stuff that makes great places, reduces loneliness and mental health issues. Keeps antisocial behaviour in check and makes for enriching relationships: people are proud of where they live and are likely to stay longer.

I like to think of resilience as soil mycelia. A vital source of network energy that we often forget about, hidden from view and little understood.

When I think about Newham's 55 strong community gardens, my heart warms of the strength of this network. For me, Newham is a much more welcoming, healthy place as a result of them.

Photo Credit: Francesco Tomasinelli and Emanuele Biggi