Community

     Photo Credit: Ashley Johnson

     No not the show, although it's definitely growing on me. I was just thinking about the importance of community this week.

     Like how important it is to find your tribe, your entourage.

     But as it is with most close knit communities, it takes time. It takes a great deal of time to gain history with the people around you.

     My generation and city thrive on being transient, traveling from one place to another, fulfilling our vagabond desires and passions of curiosity.

     But in all our adventures, we can miss the simplicity of authentic community. We go out of our way to create language and Facebook connections to make it appear as though we have a close knit tribe of some sort. But in actuality we are still lonely. We are desiring to share our lives on a deeper level, with someone with much closer proximity.

     And then I think of how I grew up. I lived in the same city during my childhood and teen years. I went to the same school from kindergarten to my senior year in high school with a majority of the same kids. We have history. And a unique sense of community that grounds us.

     As much as you and I try to create community wherever we go, there are just some things that will never change. You can't microwave a process that's meant to be in an oven. You'll come up with something soggy, half-cooked, and ultimately unsatisfying.

     In order to gain the riches of true community, a true entourage, you have to be willing to put in the time, to gain real history, to know the same stories, to get frustrated but choose to stay anyway because you know it's worth it.

     But as long as we keep running, without roots...we'll just keep running....without roots.



Wisdom's Knocking:

Life is better shared.


First Impressions

     Photo Credit: Nicole LeBoeuf

     I've said it before and I'll say it again, first impressions are no joking matter. Trust that gut instinct that you feel within the first 10 minutes of meeting a person for the first time.

     Whether you felt comfortable, safe, threatened, annoyed, loved, appreciated, understood...These are all things that are sure to come up eventually in the course of your friendship or relationship with a person.

     Not to say that you can't work through the more difficult and annoying traits. I'm just saying, be aware of what you're getting into.

     And pray for grace and wisdom for those scenarios full of misunderstanding, conflict, or the ever-so-complicated smothering.



Wisdom's Knocking:

First Impressions last forever.


Loving What You Do, Even When Others Could Care Less

     Photo Credit: Yajaira Reynolds

     Have you spent time doing at least two things that you love this week? Not because it was the "It" thing to do, or because every hipster is talking about it, or because the person you're interested in does it.

     Have you done two things this week that simply make your heart happy?

     It's never too late to reconnect with the uniqueness of who you are. And sure, other people may bask in the same interests, but I can almost guarantee that they are not sharing the same body as you.

     I realized this week, that I had been so focused on what I didn't have that I almost forgot about the things that I do have and love to do.

     And if I love to do these particular things already, I don't have to wait around for someone to validate them as significant and important. They are already important and special to me.

Wisdom's Knocking:

Have the courage to do what you love.


Define My Dance

     Photo Credit: Anthony Njoku


     The dictionary describes dancing as:
-Verb (used without object) 
1. to move one's feet or body, or both, rhythmically in a pattern of steps, especially to the accompaniment of music. 
2. to leap, skip, etc., as from excitement or emotion; move nimbly or quickly: to dance with joy. 
3. to bob up and down: The toy sailboats danced on the pond.
Credit: www.dictionary.com
     Sometimes I just sit and deconstruct the most random things. Like how we move our bodies to a sound frequency. And it makes us happy. What. Really. So strange and so lovely.

     That is all.


Wisdom's Knocking:

Dance like nobody's watching.