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Its all about the community – Celebrating Community Blog Hop!
August 17: Tell us: What does community togetherness mean to you?
Community is a word that’s difficult to define. It’s like porn, you know it when you see it. I’ve had a hard time in my life being in groups of people. Usually I have one or two friends and that‘s it. In college I had a small group I spent time with, but even then, it was usually only 4 or 5 of us. As soon as there’s a group, my anxiety, self-doubt and social ineptitude seem to jump into overdrive.
A strange thing happened when we moved to the small town I live in now. Suddenly I was in a community. A real, honest to goodness, fireworks on the Forth of July at the town center community. I didn’t really know what to do with it. Now, almost 10 years later, this community has come to mean more to me than I would have thought possible. We live in a place where everyone knows my husband’s name and that he’s the guy with the big red jeep. They know because during Snow-mageddon a few years ago, he used it to drive a man to the hospital, and to deliver food to the snowed in town workers. We have a community market, a weekend warriors home project group, and even go to Church.
Now that I’m approaching 35, I can say I have a few communities I belong to and love. I have my neighborhood, who has been full of amazing generosity and support over the last year while I’ve been ill. I have my Church, which, while I haven’t been there in a long time I know they love me and will welcome me back when I return. Plus I have my online friends. Without the internet I would have never met Kerry on a Buffy the Vampire Slayer chatroom almost 15 years ago (good lord, how is that possible!?!) I wouldn’t have Sara and Chantal or my other FanFic friends from Tricky Raven and I certainly wouldn’t have met the amazing authors and bloggers of the Indie Community!
I’m still kind of a shut in and don’t typically enjoy large groups of people. Given the choice I’d usually rather stay home or just hang out with my husband or 1 friend. But when I do go out, and I do that more and more, I’m surrounded by amazing people who have enhanced my life more than I could have expected.
So community togetherness, to me, is about coming together with people with an open heart. It’s about giving of yourself when you can and about letting others take care of you without guilt (this is really hard for me). It’s about treating everyone you meet like a part of your inner circle and even though that may backfire sometimes, you will open yourself up to unimaginable possibilities.
Thank you especially to everyone reading along and blogging during this event. It’s been amazing to get to know everyone. The recipes yesterday were wonderful, and full of stories of family and personal history. Today I’ve been reading your community posts and once again, even though I know this already, I’ve been reminded anew that we really aren’t that different.
All My Love
Pav
Check out everyone’s great recipes and community posts HERE
I love this! I too have a hard time being part of a group and yet at different times in my life I have been a strong part of a community so i absolutely identified.
I have always had friends of very different ages and especially now as I had my one and only child at 39…happy to reort I am not the ‘oldest’ mom! 
That is so cool that you are integrated as it is soooo important once we have kids.You are 35? I am your age backwards 53
Haha, I have friends all over the age spectrum too, although i’m usually the youngest in any group. I have my Ninja when I was 25, so I was often the youngest mom
Pavarti K Tyler recently posted…Its all about the community – Celebrating Community Blog Hop!
Somehow I left this out of my definition, but it came through loud and clear after reading yours.
Courage! It takes courage to put yourself out there as part of community. It takes courage to accept help from those within the communities we identify ourselves with. Taking the opportunity to think about such things this week has made all the difference. Pavarti – Thanks for having the courage to propose that we Celebrate Community this week!
Gregory S. Lamb – Author recently posted…Second Installment for “Celebrating Community”
Thanks Greg! It does take courage. To let people love you, to let people take care of you and really know you. It’s scary, but worth it. Thank you so much for participating this week. I feel like my online community has become so much more “real” through this. I’m getting glimpses into people’s families and how they think. It really has been fun.
Pavarti K Tyler recently posted…Its all about the community – Celebrating Community Blog Hop!
You and I are in much the same boat! I was always just the fat chick who read too much.
Community was genuinely foreign to me until two years ago, when we moved to Seattle.
Ruthanne Reid recently posted…What Community Means to Me
Haha, I was the loud weird girl who read too much
Pavarti K Tyler recently posted…Celebrations Community – Neighborhood Warriors!
Great post, girl. I agree, large groups are not my thing (probably why I hate crowds and say, Disneyland), given that I’m more of an introvert (finding my energy by quiet, alone time). However, if you put me in a group of people, I generally overcome my initial shyness (I know, ME. Shocking!) to interact.
Perhaps this is why social media networks have flourished — many incredibly shy people are able to interact and still stay in their comfort zone. For me, that’s my strongest sense of community and have met amazing wonderful friends IRL — such as you and Jessica Swift (our fab editor for those who don’t know).
Community has evolving definitions in this age of tech — which I love. It doesn’t supplant real-life interaction, but who knows? Maybe one day we’ll all be like the people in WALL-e.
#kidding
RachelintheOC recently posted…Flying With The Angels by guest author Melissa Huie
You know, I’m actually an extrovert. People have a hard time believing you can be an extrovert AND have social anxiety, but it’s true. Extroverts tend to overcompensate by getting louder.
I agree though, I love the new Real Life friends I have thanks to meeting people online. How did anyone make friends as an adult before the internet??
Pavarti K Tyler recently posted…Celebrations Community – Neighborhood Warriors!
I love your post, Pav!
I have to admit, that this topic was probably the harderst things to write about lately, because my thoughts kept coming back from community to family. It’s awkward to realize that!
Thanks for heartwarming post!
Inga Kupp-Silberg recently posted…Celebrating Community – Community Togetherness
The difference between the two is pretty thin. I think of my community as part of my family and vice versa. I think the idea is that community is a little bigger, it has a larger scope then the people who live in your home and share your blood. Thanks so much for being a part of the blog hop! i’ve really enjoyed your posts and getting to know you better
Pavarti K Tyler recently posted…Celebrations Community – Neighborhood Warriors!
A great post, Pavarti! I really do believe communities are valuable, but some people have lost sight of this. My post today reflects that. Thank you so much for inviting me to share my thoughts. Good luck with the rest of this fantastic event!
Terri Giuliano Long (@tglong) recently posted…Community: Far From An Old-Fashioned Concept
Thanks Terri! Off to read your post now
I love that you’ve been participating in the event. I know it’s been hard with your new grandbaby!
Pavarti K Tyler recently posted…Celebrations Community – Neighborhood Warriors!
Thanks for inviting me along. It’s great to be considered part of your community
Tahlia Newland recently posted…What does community togetherness mean to you?