happy happy happy wednesday one and all! i hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far...i am on spring break with my family and have been fortunate enough to be enjoying some sun and fun!!
lately i have been thinking a lot about community and how important is has become to me the older i get and
how much i realized that i need it in my life after meeting
the beautiful souls in the picture above... along with the
other amazing women i met at this retreat...
i didn't realize
how important it is to me and how much i long for it
until after i had a taste of it for 4 days and then
had to go back home and not have it be so
tangible... i literally wanted to put these women in my pocket
and take them home with me!!
i am also realizing how difficult it can be to find....so that is my question today....
how did you find your community or are you still in search of it???
wishing you all a beautiful day and sending my love and sunshine!!
xxooxxoo
Mmmmm...good question...Im still friends with some of my peeps from HS...well 2 in particular...there is never enough time to be with them as much as Id like...but I also am very close with my cousin who is my dearest friend, and my boss who I also love...BUT..my community has changed over the years...Our couples community is now empty, as they have all divorced...and my hubs has brought new peeps into our lives through his marine corp buds...but I think I will say...Ive found many communities, they continue to grow and change and new ones are always being formed...including my newest..Blogging community...so the search is a continuation...just like change in my life..Greeeat Question...!!
ReplyDeleteKolleen amor, this one makes me really think...my community as far as the friends that I love...has changed lately and I am hating it, my best friends live so far away... that sometimes it hurts to even think about it...my family is all here but everyone is so wrapped up in their own lives, we need to make the time to come together as a family...and we will as time becomes available...my blogging community and the truest friends that I have made in it, have been my saving grace...I am thankful for their calls, thoughts and friendship :) but all in all, it is at this moment ever changing yet so important to me :) My girls go on break today...12 whole days...besos, Rose
ReplyDeleteDear Kolleen, you are coming up with such challenging and thought-provoking questions! I feel the same as you - all those years of having a work community as well as a husband, I didn't really get that I was missing out on female friendships that were deep and nourishing - until the retreat, that is! The blogging community has been truly amazing and I know that is one of the reasons that I am starting my own retreats - so I can foster these kinds of relationships for myself, but also for other women. There is nothing quite like it!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Did you notice the little "K Courage Badge" that I am wearing in the photo on my latest post? Yup - she was with me the whole time!!
I love this question Kolleen. There are different types of communities I am involved with ~ if you would call them communities ~ work, family, and friends. But the one type of community that I am truly trying to manifest is a creative tribe. I have always been drawn to writing and the arts but I never really knew how that fit with me and into my life. I started my blog for myself because I found it exciting to use a new medium to pair together my photographs and my writing ~ which were two things that I truly enjoyed. The wild thing about the internet is it's ability to connect and weave together things. I was exposed to so many inspiring souls and saw how interconnected they all were. I took the leap and attended squam. This gave me a chance to get a glimpse into this creative world up close. My eyes were opened to so many inspiring and encouraging people. I was a little intimidated after leaving squam. I was exposed to so much creativity juicy goodness and encouragment....but I felt like I didn't fit in. I felt like I wasn't sure what parts of the arts were for me and that I wasn't even that good at creating. I compared myself to others, and one should never do that. I tried my hand in painting. And although I enjoyed it....I wasn't very good at it. So I just kept pressing on.
ReplyDeleteAttending the Be Present Retreat opened up the door to my heart and soul and for the first time I felt like I was learning who I was and I could feel it deep within me. This retreat completly changed my life. The incredible people I met there will always be engrained in my heart. I wish each and everyone of them lived around the block from me. I miss them dearly. After being exposed to such radiant beauty and kindness my heart has truly been longing to feel a deeper connection of creative souls close to home. I love knowing this tribe of women spread out all over the states....but I need a community here as well. I struggle though because I am unsure of how to go about this. How do I find a tribe that sees me for me, like the women in Oregon did? How do I find a tribe that embraces the arts and encourages each other to be there very best, like the women in Oregon do each day for each other still? I am not sure how to go about that. And that is my struggle.
The be present retreat helped me fall deeper into myself and come to a better understanding of who I am. For anyone looking for a community of women I highly suggest attending an art retreat. It is not so much about the art as it is coming together. There is something so powerful about women coming together.
Great post. My community has changed so much over the years. Still close (in a way) with a group of high school girls but it seems to get harder to meet and make friends now that I am a stay at home mom.
ReplyDeleteYou are so lucky to have met such a great group of women. I wish that for everyone!
I have found it in one sense, but it's very virtual in nature. I would like to expand it locally, but am not really sure how to go about it. It is one of my wishes for the year. Funnily, since I realized that was my wish, I have gotten to reconnect in person with a number of my virtual tribe (as they visit Portland), so I suppose it will all happen in time. I hope. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope we all find one!
love to you. :)
GEEZ LOUISE!
ReplyDeletethose are some darn great comments.
i feel like jennifer hit it right on the money for me.
i LOVE my scarf sisters...they are the BEST.
but
i have no local community. it is hard to develop. it might be that i am going to be the one who facilitates the opportunity for women to come together....sometimes it.s just not going to come to me, i have to go get it?
(i just now thought of that by the way...)
hmmmm
you and i KNOW!
this photo made me sooooooooooo happy.
i want to just sit and stare at it and soak in the feelings i had with you beautiful souls that october week.
so ever grateful for it.
c
your face & the faces in that picture are so beautiful, kolleen! how i'd love to pull up a chair!
ReplyDeletecommunity for me...for the first time in my life, i have a community through church that is vital & amazing, where i feel truly held & loved (such a gift!). i also live in a neighborhood (now 10 yrs) that is a rich community of friends (it feels so rare/so grateful!). otherwise, friends are from a variety pack of different parts of my life (work, ...). a surprise huge present has been the community that's emerged out of blogging/it resonates so closely to my heart, as i think we are bonded by similar sensitivities & passions & beauty. kolleen, i am here, so thankful for your loving heart & being part of this amazing whole pack. have a wonderful spring break & sending lots of love. xoxox
So lovely sweetie. Community is so amazing when we find it. I want to be with you all just down the road to pop in for a chat and a cuppa and to share, inspire and create together. I found a new community when i moved to the US 5 years ago and only just finding a creative community now, lucky enough to have found one locally aswell as all our wonderful friends online here. So wonderful to have found you all. xxxxx
ReplyDeleteheres what I have done and Its kinda worked..ok when I meet a girl who gets it...who is a kindred spirit I nurture her and invite her to create with me ...I do play dates..I just keep building on that and sometimes I can have up to ten crazy girls making stuff but ususally its been 4....ok I have an idea lets make a play date ..I am in...lets meet and paint... I am in....love you
ReplyDelete