Building boats of community

One thing we can all do: tell our own stories and listen to the stories of others

Mark Yaconelli, The Hearth

For years … decades … I have tried to find community. I’ve moved way too many times, always with that little voice in the back of my head whispering, “Maybe this will be the place … the place where we will fit in … find community.”

I tried various churches, projects, clubs … even a different country … before I gave up and decided to reconcile myself to just living my own life, enjoying the path I’ve chosen, the friends I’ve found, the work that keeps me learning and engaged with the world. I have a good life even if there is this broken neon sign just out of view, with a few letters sputtering and spitting as it blinks that one word insistently on and off: community.

Then one fresh morning, with no thoughts in my head, my email brought me a post from Mark Yaconelli with the Barry Lopez quote at the top. I was on my way into my day; I didn’t have time for boats. I moved on … until something tugged me back.

Many months ago I took a weekend storytelling workshop with Mark and felt a deep connection to his work, enough to contemplate taking a deeper dive with him. While that had never quite happened, his newsletter and the pull toward storytelling continued to inspire me.

What struck me about this particular one was the verb: build. I have spent so many years trying to “find” community; the idea of building it had not occurred to me. My day was calling me and I needed to move on, however, I was caught in a revolving door … trying to move on and then circling back around. Finally, I veered off my intended course and stopped to actually think about what the newsletter was offering.

Mark includes a statement from outgoing Surgeon General Vivek Murthy: “My Parting Prescription for America,” where he states that the medicine we desperately need right now is community. What was even more helpful was his description of community:

“Community is a powerful source of life satisfaction and life expectancy. It’s where we know each other, help each other, and find purpose in contributing to each other’s lives.

While we loosely call Substack a “community,” I suddenly realized that, for me, it has become a real one … scattered and unwieldy though it might be. Writing here gives me purpose as I try to share my take on the world and tell my stories. Reading and learning about the lives and thoughts of other writers here broadens my perspective and makes me feel connected to a wider world. I am grateful for finding this community and the idea of continuing to “build” this community changes my way of thinking about it.

Feeling like part of a community is a healing medicine … a medicine we need for our country right now.

“Bring your own book” bookclub?

I have become part of the local Unitarian Universalist congregation and now intend to build on that beginning by offering a different take on a bookclub focused on understanding, surviving, and transforming this mind-boggling time. Each person is invited to bring a book of choice and can choose to read a 3 minute overview about how that book is helping them or what they’ve learned from it.

That process would be intended to seed the conversation for more exploration about how we’re each coping. If there’s any interest, I’d be happy to start a similar bookclub here. Please let me know if you’re interested by responding to this poll: