Community has been on my mind lately

I am starting to realize that community and the sense of belonging might be one of the most important things in my life.

I recently attended a musical, Dear Evan Hansen, that dealt with people’s feeling of isolation and alienation in our increasing fragmented, tech-centric society. It made me realize how blessed I am to be able to have such a loving, involved personal community.

It is true, I work for it. I try as hard as I can to not only be friendly and positive, but also to listen, to spend time with people not talking, or waiting for them to stop talking so I can. But to listen to them and hopefully connect with them in some meaningful way.

And I do. When I am thinking about “my people” the idea of layers comes to mind. There is the layer of family, there is the layer of people I do things with (like bike racing), many of whom I see and know, but haven’t had the chance to talk to yet, there is a layer containing my close friends, a layer of business acquaintances, a new to me (and very special) layer of social media folks, and also a layer that I truly cherish. The layer of people I have just met.

Meeting new people is really important to me for the obvious reason that I love people, but also to gain a new perspective, to see this fabulously complicated world we live in through another’s eyes.

I am very lucky in that I am an outgoing person (those that have met me are probably chuckling at the understatement), and I find it very easy to talk to people. But please know that that is also something I have worked on, practiced. Yes, there have been some stumbles, quite a few awkward moments and failed conversations, but I kept at it and have been rewarded a thousand-fold.

An example jumps out to me, I recently attended a barbecue event in Maquoketa, Iowa at Downtown Nutrition- MAQ featuring the next level ‘que of Bad Ash BBQ. There were a lot of people, and of course I chatted to many. But there was one individual who caught my eye and fired up my desire to meet them and get to know more about them. I noticed a gentleman standing nearby wearing a “Goonies” t-shirt, a movie near to my heart, so I went over, introduced myself, and commented on his shirt.

We began to talk at first of the movie, of our connection to it, and then began to talk of other things, interests we had, our recent experiences, and as so often happens with me, we began to connect over food. Our shared enthusiasm for cuisine, and specifically his deep knowledge of the local Reuben Sandwich scene, brought us right into sync, new friends.

His partner joined the conversation, and I instantly connected with her as well, she being a therapist who is also a crafting master. Thank you straight from my heart Doc and The Crafty Therapist, meeting you, talking with you, and ultimately connecting with you made a good day great.

Much love,

~Ricki