Prompt 7: 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 had a hard time with this prompt.  Mostly because I have a tendency to be friends with people for a long time.  It's hard for me to make new friends.  The "new" friends I've made in the past few years have actually been people I was friends with in high school that I have reconnected with because I'm more comfortable with people I already know.

I have a tendency to become withdrawn when things get stressful.  I spend so much energy teaching and talking to my students every day that sometimes it's hard for me to want to socialize with other people.  I'm always glad when I do, but I have a hard time convincing myself that I should be social.

The community I have is a group of my friends from church.  We meet up every Thursday night at Friday's.  (Ironic, huh?)  We see each other at church on Sunday.  We get together to play games and celebrate birthdays and spend time together.

In 2011, I would love to deepen some of my relationships.  I have a tendency to rely on the group events we have planned with our church group instead of getting together with people in smaller groups or one on one.  That means that some of the friendships are not as deep as I would like them to be.  I would also like to spend some time deepening my reconnected friendships and exploring the possibility for new friendships with some of my acquaintances.