Community

Hey friends! The word ‘community’ has been on repeat in my head lately. Let me explain what I mean by community. Are you ready? I think you’re gonna like this! You can define a community by the shared attributes of the people in it, and/or by the strength of the connections among them. Got it? So basically we lift each other up. A phrase I’ve heard that really resonates with me is, ‘community over competition’. It’s a good one.

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Last week, I was able to THE Rachel Hollis as a keynote speaker at a local school. If you know me then you KNOW that Rachel Hollis is my jam. She inspires me, she talks the talk and boy does she walk the walk. I have Girl, Wash Your Face and I have pre-ordered TWO copies of her next book, Girl, Stop Apologizing. One will definitely be a giveaway so Stay tuned for that one.

One of the most powerful takeaways from hearing Rach speak { yeah, I’m gonna call her Rach like she’s my bestie 😉 } was when she talked about jealousy. Mostly how social media can spark that feeling. You know what I’m talking about. There you are, scrolling along and you see someones feed and you feel all weird on the inside. Maybe it’s cause you genuinely don’t like what you see,  and if that’s the case then you simply, ‘unfollow’. Done. No need for that business in your life. On that note, if you don’t like what someone is saying or doing on their feed, don’t give it weight. Let it go and refrain from the negative comments. They do NOTHING for NO ONE! But maybe the weird feelings are jealousy. Or comparison. Guess what? You are YOU! Own that and know that behind every pretty feed is some version of hot mess express. Pinky swear. None of us are perfect. Some hide it, some just don’t use their social media platforms as a place to share their ‘crap’. So what does Rach do? She prays for said person. While praying is not in my wheelhouse, I can wish that person success. Right? So your options are: unfollow or think good thoughts for them. Just rechannel that negative feeling into something productive cause ain’t nobody got time for ugly feelings. Just be your own version of awesome and remember, community over competition friends! It’s a catchy phrase.

Last year, I joined a group called The Blog Bloc. I stumbled upon them while I was searching for local blog events cause I felt like I needed, get this, a community! I have LOVED attending the events and meeting new people. When I go to an event, I love seeing familiar faces. It’s really been a great thing for me to jump into. This is where I first heard the community over competition thing and it really stuck with me. Since then, I have attended a Tuesdays Together as well as a Creative Mornings event and let me tell you, community is what it’s all about!

As a blogger, you can feel isolated. It’s a great gig and I love writing and creating content but most of your family and friends look at you with blank stares when you talk about analytics, Word Press, Hosting and social media content.  When I talk about things like ‘tech support’ and my ‘dashboard’, I get glazed over expressions. I really needed to put myself out there to meet like-minded people who knew my language.

Sometimes if I am feeling a little stumped or like I need some motivation or inspiration to fire me up, I schedule a coffee date with someone that I’ve met in the blogging community. It’s like an instant fire lit under my ass. It’s SO good! I highly recommend finding someone in your genre or niche to give you some energy. It’s an instant cup filler ya’ll!

Outside of ‘business’, I crave me some girlfriend time so that is a whole other community for me. You guys, I need my girlfriends. Like I need air. Does that sound dramatic? My girl tribe just gets and me and in a world of crazy, feeling like somebody gets you is a necessity. So I make sure to schedule time with my ladies. Sometimes this looks like a coffee date, often times its breakfast that runs into lunch {my hubby can’t quite wrap his head around how we can sit and talk for hours}, other times it’s a night out with dinner and drinks. However I can find girl time, I’ll take it. It’s like cheap therapy and it can help me out of a funk and sometimes talking it out can help me work my way through life stuff.

Another oh so important community that we all have is family. My hubby and kids are obviously my every day tribe but I also reach out to extended family on the daily. My sisters, brother and sister in law and I have a constant text thread going. It’s full of all.the.random.stuff. It’s how we keep each other in the know, share cute pictures and videos. I also have constant threads with two of my sister-in-laws. This community of family is a pretty big deal and oh so special.

If you ask my friends and family, they would tell you that I am a total extrovert. I feel like that appears to be true from the outside BUT I really do work very well solo and I actually need the alone time to focus and decompress. The older I get, the more I crave alone time. I do just fine in a social setting. I am chatty and engaging but I love one on one time the most. I feel like there is so much noise all the time so mixing it up between being social and enjoying solitude is what makes me feel my best. So apparently this is a thing – I am a combo of introvert and extrovert which is called an ambivert. Who knew? Well, now I have a title that better explains who I am. This article was helpful in self-diagnosis. Ha ha! How about you? What’s your social speed? Where do you find your community?