Building Community, Musings by Sheila

Somewhat addicted to self-improvement and personal development classes, books and workshops, I attended Bigger Small Talk in Fargo this week, an open communications forum created and led by Jodee Bock. I was having a conversation with a cherished friend and mutual masterminder, Cari Luchau, and she was talking about making it a priority to do the top 6 tasks on your to-do list that will bring you closer to your number one goal in life. Included in that list is at least one energy recharger, which for her was running or some type of physical activity AND at least one task that is considered an energy drainer. These are all the little bothersome things that we do not believe are in our way as we are capable of ignoring them. What we fail to realize, however, is that every time we see it, it reminds us that we still haven’t dealt with it, and thereby zaps us of energy over and over again. She stated that the average person has between 60-100 energy drainers. Some of mine include the pile of dry cleaning which was waiting for more companions or the special occasion making it a priority before it was worth my attention. Or the broken window and shredded screen that I see several times a day and causes a great big sigh. One I recently completed was the leaking toilet brought to light when Tracy Green reviewed my house for Feng Shui improvements. It was by no means the only problem child I had been ignoring, yet it was the largest one screaming for attention and yet I managed to ignore for years. The funny thing about these energy drainers is that they take much less time to deal with then not and having it constantly weigh on your mind (not heavily, but it is there, occupying space.) The next morning I called the dry cleaner. Hmm, that wasn’t hard at all, why did I wait so long?

Fast forward to later in the week and another conversation with the brilliant and beautiful, Pam McGee. We were talking about our hopes and dreams for The Grateful Goddess and what we believe the business has created is a sense of community for women feeling a void in their lives. Many of us feel this void and desire to have more meaning and contribution to the world. Simply by connecting with others with similar aspirations, we are uplifted and inspired to live life more fully. She mentioned a group of her friends who would get together and help the other with whatever they wanted to accomplish. What a lovely ‘it takes a village’ or community mentality.

Later that day, I was doing yard work and chores. My to-do list is always much longer than I can physically accomplish in a day, so I was debating when enough is enough and whether I should take the rest of the day off and go to the lake. I saw a neighbor and started chatting. It was an absolutely perfect day for outdoor activities – sunny skies, billowy clouds, soft breeze. We sat in awe of the beauty and perfection of the day enjoying each other’s company. She started telling me all the plans she had to create a haven in her backyard garden, suddenly I jumped up in excitement and started helping her create it. I had plenty of tasks I could have been doing, but none of them were as fun and exciting to me as helping her. I did not intentionally set out to put Pam’s suggestion into action, I was just following my bliss and doing whatever seemed fun and enjoyable to me at the time — coincidentally, it was some of the same work I was not motivated to do at my own home! However, after seeing the transformation in her backyard, I was inspired to go home and remove the overgrown bush the UPS driver has been kind enough to hurdle to get to my door. Instantly, it moved from an energy drainer to an energy recharger. Now, I can look with pride at my latest accomplishment and instead of thinking ‘what can brown do for you’… I did a little something for him. Feels good. My neighbor is now anxious to help me with a project and knowing what an accomplished master gardener she is, I have just the one she will enjoy. Everything is more fun in tandem. And you know what they say… the more, the merrier! We just may be on to something here…