In Search of Community
This year has been an introspective whirlwind for me. I was met with a slew of emotional ups and downs which I lovingly refer to as “growing pains”. The process of knowing who we are is a long journey. We are always evolving, changing and hopefully growing for the better so we’re always forced to introduce the next chapter of who we become to ourselves. Things like this always excite me, but it can be a sobering experience. One day I hope I can share all of the things I’ve learned along the way with others who are in the midst of their own self-reflective journeys.
While there are many things in the space of “self-improvement” and “self-enrichment” I’ve been working on behind the scenes, including hiring a life coach, the one thing I’m happy to share is my plan to connect with friends.
As with many women I’ve spoken to about this, the pandemic illuminated a lot for me and put a spotlight on the areas in my life that could use a bit of cleaning out, refinement or polishing up. This was especially true with my friendships and the friends I thought I had. A key issue I eventually discovered after many of my connections moved away, was the loss of community and friends I could call or depend on.
At the end of last year, I made a plan to try and alleviate some of that loss.
Since I had no village where I was, I decided to travel to see as many friends as possible to make community happen for me while also attempting to make new friendships in my area. Starting in March, I planned trips to try and see at least one friend a month. Here’s how it’s gone so far.
I had been planning to visit Norway since 2018 but after starting my own company and the global pandemic, my aspirations for doing so were delayed a bit.
This year, as I planned to visit friends Europe, I decided I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t also venture to a country on my wish list.
So, in March, I went to Norway where explored Oslo Fjords and its night life. I then traveled to Tromso where I spent my birthday chasing (and seeing) the Northern Lights and going dog sledding afterwards.
I ended the trip by flying to Paris to stay with a friend. While there I was able to reunite with another friend who lived in the French countryside and then took a train to London to visit an old colleague friends I hadn’t seen in years. It was a perfect 10-day trip.
In April, I went to Philadelphia to reunite with one of the first friends I’d ever made in Chicago. Another great friend flew down from Chicago to join us and I was able to reconnect with friends who had relocated from Harlem after the pandemic.
In May, I traveled to North Carolina to visit a connection I had from home my home town where we visited the Ruth E. Carter Afrofuturism Museum.
In July old colleagues came into town from London which evolved into an entire office reunion (which is always funny because none of us work at the company we met each other in anymore). And finally, two friends also decided to come up to spend some time with me as well, one of whom I knew since middle school.
Stay tuned for the adventures I have planned for the rest of the year!