The Value Of Community

I thought I was doing okay. Sure, the pandemic had caused me to lose a lot of the social connections I used to have but hey, I am an introvert, I don’t need people. 
 
I really thought I was okay and that the isolation didn’t impact me.  
 
 
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​That was until I walked into MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and started to tear up. 
 
See, I was recently scheduled to speak at a MOPs meeting about depression and anxiety. I was once a part of this same group until it was shut down with COVID in March of 2020 and had decided not to re-join once they resumed. I had maintained a few of the relationships through Facebook and the occasional text but for those most part, had lost connection with many of them.
 
It wasn’t until I started catching up with old friends and making new ones, that I realized how alone I had felt in motherhood. 
 
I had friends that I would hang out with but few that were in the same stage of life as me. 
 
Being with a group of women in a similar stage of life as me with similar faith beliefs chatting about our experiences, struggles and joys filled a gap I didn’t know I had. 
 
We all need community. None of us our immune to that. Not even me, the introvert who loves being alone. 
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We need people to share life with. Not just the small talk we have with the other moms at soccer practice or the casual acquaintances we occasionally catch up with. Not just text buddies or pen pals (does anyone even write letters anymore?). 
 
We need people in our lives that we have deep conversations with about real life. The good, the bad and the ugly.  Like in person conversations, not online. People we regularly meet up with and share life with. 
 
For my mom, that community is her knitting group. Each week these women get together for hours and have walked along side each other for decades. They share in one another’s pains and celebrate successes with one another. 
 
For you it may be friends from high school or college, friends you have at work or church. 
 
If you do not have that community, find it! 
  
You may not think you are missing out because you have friends. But if you do not have people in your life that are in the same stage as life as you, you need to get some. 
 
Trust me….I am coming from a place of head knowledge and experience on this one. 
 
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