Current e-Journal

To simultaneously rest your weary brain AND build community, find people who love what you love to do beyond work. Gardening. Photography. Dogs. Reading romance novels.

When we are overworked and exhausted, we tend to isolate. We garden at home. We go hiking with the dog. And the older we get, the more we tend to spend our time alone.

• In this week’s podcast episode, Marcus Walton emphasizes the fact that we can’t create change “out there in the world” unless we consider our own humanity as interconnected and interdependent creatures.
• In his seminal book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, historian Timothy Snyder’s 12th lesson is “Make eye contact and small talk” -  the power of interacting with the people around us, to deepen relationships, to find what we have in common.
• And study after study after study after study talks about the power of volunteering to help alleviate depression and anxiety. That act of helping others, being connected to others in ways that matter – that is what revives us AND builds community.

The antidote to the madness we are experiencing in the world is community. If you don’t love large groups, find one or two people to join you in reading that romance novel. Or volunteer at the Humane Society to take care of animals. Help the forest service plant trees – a task that allows you to choose to work with others or on your own. You will be connecting, just in your own way.

We may not think that joining a book club, coaching a kid’s softball team, or helping a neighbor patch their roof is changing the world. Well, not to go all Margaret Mead on us, but those connections are the only thing that ever has changed the world - all of us finding our people, sharing what we care about.

This is not only an exercise for your own health. It is also a huge step in building a movement. Because movement-building is also about finding your people. And that doesn't have to happen over "work." It can happen organically, as you're working side-by-side planting trees or talking about the heroine in that romance novel. It starts with just being human, connecting with others, creating ripples, weaving together the networks of people you know. One person becomes two people becomes ten people becomes 100 people.

As we talk about so often at Creating the Future, together we have everything we need; it is only on our own that we experience scarcity. That’s not just the definition of Collective Enoughness. It is the recipe for your health and the health of our planet.

So go find your HEART people. Your JOY people. And let us know what happens when you do.