Being a Villager.
I recently read an essay about how if we want to have a village we need to be willing to be “villagers” again.
This means putting on pants, making plans, then following through when the day comes. The days of last minute cancelling are over- there was a time in my late 20’s where I would make plans and then my then friends and I would joke about who would cancel first. Now we are all in our 30’s taking a look around realizing that we have very few real connections in our life. No one is checking in on us about our sick parents, or our trips, our heart breaks our triumphs. We forgot that relationships require real work; reaching out, follow ups, follow through, vulnerability, listening.
There are many nuances to friendship and some people grapple with social anxiety while others struggle to find like minded individuals to spend time with. However, all of us can ask ourselves how we are contributing to the greater community around us and nurturing connections so we have folks to care for and in turn that will care for us. If you want a village act like a villager. Be the one to make plans (bringing people together) be the one to send the first text, put peoples birthdays in your phone and send a HBD text, meet up for an evening walk. But, whatever you do- put pants on and get involved in the village.
