It’s fitting that I’m writing this the morning of 9/11. I remember that day clearly, though it might be only one of two days during my childhood that I remember clearly (the other morning and day is described in 🌳 Change - an essay). I didn’t know anyone affected by the planes flying into the WTC buildings, but I also didn’t know that it would shape my entire life, and the lives of an entire generation (generations?) of people just like me.
I’ve written a bit about my military service here, though maybe not too explicitly. And this reflection isn’t supposed to be about my service, or even a reflection on service at all, or at least I didn’t mean it to be. What I was hoping to write about as I sat down was community.
This last weekend I had the absolute delightful pleasure of driving seven hours to the Puget Sound to take a Rescue Scuba Diver class. This was put on by a lovely scuba shop called @@@@@@@@@ (I don’t yet have the permission of the shop to put the name here. Once I do, I’ll make sure to link the shops socials) , the namesake of which is not the owner, or the beautiful hue of the ocean when you look up into the descending sun rays, but after the owners dog. The shop was recommended to me by a woman who I had gone diving with a few months before, partly because they interact with a non-profit called Higher Ground which might be able to help me with the cost of the class and some gear (and boy did they ever!!!).
- Describe the weekend here
The expectations I had driving up to the class certainly weren’t met. I had been dreading the class because rescue scuba diver has a reputation for being physically and mentally demanding (it was), and also because I was getting out of my comfort zone wtih my normal scuba routine. I highly recommend getting yourself out of your normal comfort zone with anything you do, but especially if it involves risk. That could be a whole other discussion here (and probably will be)
What struck me the most about the whole experience was how seen, held, and safe I felt throughout the whole experience. I had fun, I worked hard, and I made new friends. What started as dread and a sense that I just had to ‘get through’ this class to make it to the other side, ended with touching a community that supports each other and works to make each other better in every way.
The power of community to change lives for the better is a human quality that we’ve been coached away from. The vilification of religion has had the effect of shrinking the church communities who support each other through thick and thin. The invention and capitalization of social media has, ironically, appealed to our darker sides of hyper competitiveness and strengthened or adamancy of being independent and going it all alone.
I’ve felt this sense of community and safety before (one example is: a woman only hair salon in Kuwait), and each time I feel it it lights up a fire in my soul that directs me to do something about it. I have a lack of community in my life