Community

The start of the year is bringing in to sharp focus the dance between intimacy and community. I suck at it. I don't know how to maintain a sense of deep connection with myself while movin' and grovin' with my loved ones. I guess this is why I tend to be more of a hermit, though I cherish the long and deep friendships in my life.

Just this past weekend, I went to visit someone I love who is in Yakima at a rehab for alcoholics. Wow. What a trip. I'm happy to say that he is doing pretty well despite this awful disease that has nearly destroyed his life. He's taking it one day at a time. But it was really hard to be there. There were so many families in such deep pain--generations of pain. I noticed I had to keep my distance from most folks and ultimately felt very disconnected to myself. Keeping others at energetic arms length took a lot out of me, though I believe getting close would have been harder. This is a problem.

Clearly, part of my quantum leap year will be learning how to maintain the connection with my self and creator-of-all-that-is (they seem to go together) while learning how to be more connected to others. I believe this is a skill that will be mandatory as we move closer to 2012 and beyond.