You're Welcome Here
October is one of my favorite times of the year. Although leaves are technically dying, to me, Fall represents warmth, homeyness, and yes, change. I'm not the best at handling change, so let's stick with the first two :-)
Over the past few years, and even more so the past few months, I've come to truly realize how important community is in my life. I think I've always known it, but since officially moving away from home, it's finally hit...home...with me. (Lol, see what I did there?!) I've been apart of some amazing communities in my life, some that have come and gone, some that are still around, and some new ones that are beginning to flourish. As I begin to think on this new Fall season and what that means for community, I've decided that this will be my new mantra for life.
Being the "middle" child, I've felt left out a time or two. I'm mostly to blame for that as I was more a book nerd than an athlete like my siblings. Most of the times in my life that I've felt left out or unwelcome, it's been unintentional or all made up in my head, but that doesn't mean the feelings weren't there. The others were intentional, I'm looking at you siblings and that time I came home from my one summer camp adventure in 5th grade and no one would tell me the card trick y'all learned that week...see how long that sticks with someone?
One of those areas that I feel sometimes left out of is the relationship side of life. It's no secret that my dating life is and has been non-existent for, oh, ever. Now, this isn't a "oh I'm so sad about that" post, because although there are many days I feel that way, this will be more about how I'm choosing embrace it. It's true what they say, "this is the most time you'll ever have in your life to do what you want". I know, because I see it all around me. So I've decided to make my life more about community now than ever before. I'm burning the candle. I'm still working out what that actively looks like, but I want those who meet me to know that they are always welcome here in my life. Calls, texts, brunch, lunch, dinner, coffee, ice-cream, movies - you name it. I rarely say 'no' to hanging out with people anyway, but I want to be intentional and open with my friendships. So,
Over the past few years, and even more so the past few months, I've come to truly realize how important community is in my life. I think I've always known it, but since officially moving away from home, it's finally hit...home...with me. (Lol, see what I did there?!) I've been apart of some amazing communities in my life, some that have come and gone, some that are still around, and some new ones that are beginning to flourish. As I begin to think on this new Fall season and what that means for community, I've decided that this will be my new mantra for life.
Being the "middle" child, I've felt left out a time or two. I'm mostly to blame for that as I was more a book nerd than an athlete like my siblings. Most of the times in my life that I've felt left out or unwelcome, it's been unintentional or all made up in my head, but that doesn't mean the feelings weren't there. The others were intentional, I'm looking at you siblings and that time I came home from my one summer camp adventure in 5th grade and no one would tell me the card trick y'all learned that week...see how long that sticks with someone?
One of those areas that I feel sometimes left out of is the relationship side of life. It's no secret that my dating life is and has been non-existent for, oh, ever. Now, this isn't a "oh I'm so sad about that" post, because although there are many days I feel that way, this will be more about how I'm choosing embrace it. It's true what they say, "this is the most time you'll ever have in your life to do what you want". I know, because I see it all around me. So I've decided to make my life more about community now than ever before. I'm burning the candle. I'm still working out what that actively looks like, but I want those who meet me to know that they are always welcome here in my life. Calls, texts, brunch, lunch, dinner, coffee, ice-cream, movies - you name it. I rarely say 'no' to hanging out with people anyway, but I want to be intentional and open with my friendships. So,