One Word & Community

Two Reverb 11 prompts for you today!


One Word (Written by Gwen Bell): Encapsulate the year 2011 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2012 for you?


Community (Written by Cali Harris): Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2011? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2012?


One word
Hm, encapsulate 2011 in one word? That's tough. I've been thinking about this for about 36 hours now (not constantly, mind!), and the word that has come up for me is 'Kaleidoscope'. This year has been a whirlwind of colours, emotions and experiences. I've lived through desperation, exhilaration, connection, isolation, newness, longevity, times of breathtaking beauty and others of bleak greyness.


Many months ago, whilst immersed in the middle of a process centred around my purpose and how that might manifest in my work in the world (an ongoing process, I might add), I made this picture.

I think it pretty much sums up what my year has been like. 

One thing I can't say about 2011 is that it's been dull. Whether it's been cycling over the top of the Yorkshire Moors at 3mph in crazily strong head-on winds with my beloved Nige or cycling downhill at 45mph, assisting conscious connected breathing exercises in a life-changing workshop, teaching English to people from all over the world (including, I admit, a country I had never heard of before - Turkmanistan), or the myraid other experiences I've had, I have, despite all my fears and worries, lived a colourful, multi-faceted, explorative, delicious year. It's been pretty f-ing wonderful, to be honest with you.

And my word for 2012?

I have been so busy trying to think of a word for 2011 that I'm not quite ready to reveal my 2012 word yet. You'll have to wait and see! (Um, so will I). 

Community

Communing, being in community, is something I've craved in the last couple of years of my life - and I am delighted that looking back on the year, it's been there in many different ways.

- Henfield Theatre Company has provided me with a really down-to-earth, fun way of connecting with people from all walks of life. Being in two shows plus a concert gave me a place to connect with people twice a week.

- This lovely blog, and the blogs I love to read - Painted Path, Inner Bliss, Backdoor to the Moon, For-giving For-getting and Everything In Between, aLifeness, What We Create, Lori Portka, People Like Us - are just some of the wonderful places I adore hanging out.

- Moving to the village of Steyning and beginning to get to know people has given me a tangible experience of community.

- Teaching English as a foreign language - EFL schools are like mini communities in themselves, and I've worked at two different schools which I have loved.

- Doing the Screw Work Let's Play 30 day challenge was like taking steroids for community building. Wicked experience, but really intense (not sustainable for me in the long run - I was online, connecting with people and their projects, for way too long for it to be something I could've kept up for longer than a month.) John Williams in his wisdom closed the community after the challenge finished, and now a bunch of us continue to connect on Facebook.

- Cycling and meeting other cyclists. It's like being in a club with no official membership card, but discovering that other people are in it is very exciting to my inner child. Just yesterday I learned that one of the teachers at school is also a road cyclist and I wanted to jump up and down, swap stories and compare routes.

- I hope that the women's circle in Steyning will continue to grow and provide a point of connection and community for the women in the village and the surrounding areas.

- Working at the editor of Clearmind International's online magazine, as well as assisting on The Awakening workshop, is quite simply the most incredible experience of community. I would love everyone I know to try this work. It is heaven on earth.

In 2012, I intend to continue with the above, but particularly to strengthen my sense of community and communion with women (we are unreservedly amazing, every single one of us, and I have learned so much this year about being a woman), both online and face to face at the women's circle. 

I promise myself and you that I will get the mailing list up and running. I've been suffering a bit of writer's block around this... But I think the solution is to be real, authentic and honest, pretty much how I try to be in my life.

I am going to grow my work with women in a number of exciting ways, including my first ever women's one day workshop in London (email me for more info! elloabarbour@gmail.com) and at least one e-course to be launched in early 2012... more on this soon!

Your turn!! What is your one word, and where and how have you experienced community this year... and what's your vision for the next 13 months?! xxxxxx