Every now and then, it helps to take a break from the headlines.

That might sound like an odd thing for somebody who works in journalism to say, but hear me out.

Most of the stories that make national news seem to focus on division.

People are angry.

Politics are polarized. Social media feeds are packed with arguments.

If you spent all your time reading those stories, you could be forgiven for thinking the country is coming apart at the seams.

Then you spend a day in a rural community. You stop at a local coffee shop and somebody holds the door open for you. You run into three people you know at the grocery store.

A neighbour notices your gate swinging open and closes it before your cows can wander off to town.

A volunteer spends an entire weekend helping organize a community event without expecting so much as a thank you.

Rural communities aren’t perfect.

We have disagreements.

We have challenges.

We have struggles with healthcare, infrastructure, housing and the rising cost of living. But there is still something here that feels increasingly rare.

People show up.

When a family loses a loved one, casseroles appear on their door step.

When a fundraiser needs organizing someone steps in and puts in the work to make it happen.

It’s easy to overlook these things because they happen quietly.

They don’t usually make headlines.

Acts of kindness rarely go viral.

But they matter.

The strength of a community isn’t measured by the size of its tax base, the number of traffic lights, or the height of its buildings.

It’s measured by how people treat one another when nobody is keeping score.

We see examples of that every day.

We see it in the volunteers who coach youth sports.

We see it in the farmers who help neighbours during harvest.

We see it in the service clubs, church groups, firefighters, seniors organizations and countless others who donate their time to make their communities better.

None of them are doing it for recognition.

They’re doing it because that’s what people here have always done.

Perhaps that is what rural Alberta gets right.

In a world that often feels increasingly disconnected, we remain connected to one another. We still understand that communities don’t build themselves.

They are built by ordinary people making small decisions every day to care about the place they call home.

That may not make national news.

But it’s something worth celebrating.

Commentary by Sara Driedger