Reverb10

So I recently found out about something called Reverb10--a blog project to spark introspection about the past year and--I hope, anyway--intentionality for the coming year. I like the idea of thinking deeply about this past year; a lot has happened for me. Plus, writing prompts are helpful.

Today's prompt: Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?

I've had really great community this year; I lovingly call them the Magnificent Seven. Specifically this has worked because my close community is a small group of people who are working toward the same goal and meeting regularly. This is the year I began to think of my community as my actual brothers and sisters, in the sense of how I feel about them, and not just simply in the sense that I should treat them that way.

I wouldn't be sure that this was true except that I've had conflict--at least some--with most of these people over the past year. Once the newness of a relationship rubs off and the cracks begin to show, you find out what the relationship is really made of. Coming through conflict in one piece, closer than ever, reassures me that this community isn't just something I'm imagining, like a game of make-pretend-to-be-friends.

These are the people who've seen me at my worst, who've not walked away or gotten scared or given up.