Community

Community | Building Meaningful Connections

Updated 7.1.25

Sharing personal experiences on parenting, relationships, education, and family life, with curated ideas to nurture meaningful connections. Through thoughtful advice and community-focused activities, my goal is to support and strengthen the bonds that matter most.

Free Digital Download: I'm hoping this resource can become a meaningful tool for the community, especially as more people face common hardships like job loss, housing instability, and rising living costs. Losing Income Is the Worst and What To Do Next was created in response to my own financial crisis as a single parent and lower-income provider. The ideas I share are practical and grounded in the reality of navigating incredibly vulnerable circumstances.

Plugging Into Community: It’s been about seven months since the move to a new city and state. I’ll admit, I may have been a bit overzealous about how quickly I could make new connections. But after reevaluating my pace and taking the pressure off to immediately dive into highly visible community involvement, a quieter, softer rhythm is beginning to take shape.

Here are a few ideas and lessons I’m learning about community and connection:

• Traditional networking was a helpful way to break the ice and practice courage by stepping out. But honestly, it was the gentle craft night, and a clothing swap invite from someone I’d recently met that felt most natural and comfortable.

• At first, I was set on jumping right into weekly community action through food distribution programs. But instead, I felt a quiet pull to teach myself how to garden and grow from seed, and that’s what aligned more deeply with me in this season.

• Living away from my core family unit, I noticed a tendency to hold tightly to long-distance connections. That’s valid and real but I’ve also come to realize that my new family and community are here now, and it’s okay to reengage with them and allow those relationships to grow, slowly and genuinely.

These experiences have reminded me that the old ideas of what “proper” community involvement looks like can sometimes box us in too tightly stretching us too far, too soon. More often, it’s the subtle, quieter cues that guide us best.

I’ve started asking myself, “Is this action replenishing me or extracting too much from me right now?” If the answer is replenishing, then it’s likely a connection that aligns with where I am.

Other Updates:

• Check out the Simple Living page for my latest tips and actions towards a natural pace of living. 

• Stop by the Creativity page and receive current tips on staying connected to your creative medium and organizing your creative ideas.

• Read the latest blog post- When Emotional Burnout Isn’t Collapse...It’s a Clearing