Create Harmony

Celebrating Community in Winter's Embrace

• Sally • Season 1 • Episode 114

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In this episode, we explore how building and nurturing a sense of community can enhance winter well-being. By identifying our existing communities and sharing practical ways to deepen those connections, we emphasize the importance of togetherness during colder months. 

• Understanding winter well-being and the joy of connection 
• Exercises to list and identify existing communities 
• The power of trauma bonds in difficult times 
• Ways to strengthen connections within communities 
• Reflection prompts from "52 Lists for Togetherness" 

To learn more, go to mycreateharmony.com

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the Create Harmony podcast. We're back again talking about winter well-being, and our focus here on this podcast is the joy that is around us all the time. It's just nestled in little things, like the warmth of sunlight that comes through your window on a cool day, or maybe it's the simple pleasure of sinking into a comfortable chair and reading a good book, the aroma of freshly baked bread, maybe the vibrant colors of a sunset, or the gentle hum of your favorite song playing in the background. Each of those things holds a tiny piece of joy. All of these seem insignificant or ordinary, but they have the power to lift our spirits and nourish our soul, and it just takes a moment to notice them. So this is episode 114, and I am your host, sally Burlington. So today, as part of our winter well-being series, we're going to discuss the concept of community and how important community is in our lives. But before we dive into that, I'll remind you that what winter well-being is all about is focusing on things that bring us comfort and warmth and joy during colder, darker months. So we believe that winter is not just the time to endure but to embrace, with its unique opportunities, to take time to reflect, connect, to connect with others and find some winter self-care. So in today's episode we are going to explore how to build and nurture a sense of community and how that can enhance your winter well-being, whether it's through participating in maybe it's participating in local events, it's engaging in volunteer work or simply reconnecting with family and friends. Community is important. We need to connect with one another, even during this winter season. But here's my true confession the thing about community and winter for me is that I personally want to do a bit of hibernating. I personally want to avoid nights out when the weather is cold and when it gets dark really early, I just want to go home and be in my cozy clothes at home. So finding community in the winter, I think, takes a little different shape.

Speaker 1:

Able to find community, you might be part of a community that you don't even realize is there. So our first step here is I'm going to prompt you. I'm going to ask you the question what communities are you a part of? Now you could make this as a list. You could actually write it down. I think it'd be a great exercise for you to write it down. If you're not in a position to do that right now, just think about it in your head, make that list and be as inclusive as possible and you might see some opportunities for community that you didn't previously see. So you're going to start with listing, like your family, your work colleagues, your club, that you might be part of any organizations you belong to, and then take your list even farther. You're part of the group of lacrosse moms or you are in the community of dads that volunteer for the booster club. So for me, here's an example in my life I am the mom of college kids, so I'm part of the mom of college kids community. Or I'm a person with a podcast, so I'm part of the podcasting community. Another example for me is I'm an empty nester, so I'm part of the podcasting community. Another example for me is I'm an empty nester, so I'm part of that community.

Speaker 1:

Go a step further and branch out to your hobbies, like people who play pickleball, people who like to read. You want to get granular here, because this is how you see how much community is already around you. You might say people who like, instead of just people who like to read, people who like to read mystery novels. For me, I would list myself in the community of people who like to garden and grow things, people who like to do jigsaw puzzles, maybe cat owners or dog owners, people who love to ski or those who love journaling.

Speaker 1:

Now, why are we analyzing all these groups? I've alluded to it earlier. But the reason for analyzing these groups? Let me think of it like this it's the same concept as when you pull for a big sports team. So if you are a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles let's say they won the Super Bowl so if you were a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, you would see yourself as part of that group. Eagles. You would see yourself as part of that group. You would buy team gear and you and all the other Eagles fans would unite around that particular team and listen. The people watching that game or in the stands wearing all of the Philadelphia Eagles merch. They may not have anything else in common, but they see themselves as part of a group, part of a community. And you can use that same idea across some different genres and find community there.

Speaker 1:

So people who are fans of Disney, people who like to get up early, people who stay up late, people who drive Jeeps with and put ducks on their dashboard there's something about seeing yourself as part of a group with commonalities. That feels good. It's reassuring and, in our ever divided and conflict filled society, this seems like a great step. So once you've analyzed your list and thought of all the communities you are a part of, you want to try to think of how can I deepen that connection between myself and that community. Like, if I'm in the pickleball community, I might want to create a pickleball club and play regularly. Or maybe I want to think about the other people in the dog owner community and ask some folks to join me at the dog park. Making this mindset shift and seeing how many communities you've already joined or opted into feels good. So I might bond with other people who have pools in their backyard or people who like to watch Netflix I don't know. Get yourself thinking. It's a jumping off point for conversation and it helps us feel less alone.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes you're part of a community based on some tough experience that you've all had. It's like a trauma bond that you all have together, like in our state. I live in the state of North Carolina and last fall there was a devastating hurricane in the western part of the state. It's not the part of the state that I live in, but I was able to observe that those people really bonded. They're part of a community and they helped each. But I was able to observe that those people really bonded. They're part of a community and they helped each other. And, like the West Coast has had overwhelming fires that decimated that entire region, they're immediately part of a community, bonded together of people that have had that experience. These are communities you would not want to have joined but are still a part of and the chances to connect still exist. So I've recently joined a community like that, from a situation that's not ideal, but it's been a blessing to me.

Speaker 1:

So I've told you before that I am on our church leadership team and one of the colleagues that I work very closely with was recently diagnosed with cancer. So he has joined the community of people going through cancer treatment. The good news for him and for all of us is that it's a pretty treatable type of cancer, but the bad news is the treatment is very grueling. It's gonna be really tough. So he and his wife are raising elementary school children and I have become part of the community that's helping them out. So there are groups of people that are walking their children back and forth to school groups taking meals, groups getting groceries, helping with other household items, so that their family has all sorts of support from community.

Speaker 1:

For me, my role is that I'm part of the walking the children back and forth to school. So two days a week I walk with their children back and forth to school. So two days a week I walk with their children back and forth to school and it is a blessing to me. My dog and I get to get out and about. We get to get our steps in. I am the mother of two girls and these are two small girls, so I get to step back in time a little bit, go back to the elementary school days and talk to them about all the things, and it has just been delightful for me. So I wouldn't have wanted to join that community, but I'm really trying to look at it as a blessing and go through that. So maybe you'll discover some new outlets for community that you have not thought of before. Just take time to think about it and I bet you'll discover things that were right before your eyes.

Speaker 1:

So now that we're making lists we've been making lists of our community we're gonna take that exercise one step further. So in a previous episode I talked about the fact that I have a book called 52 Lists and it's basically 52, there are prompts at the top and it prompts you to make a list 52 weeks of the year. So you're supposed to make a list every week and it helps you, you know, lighten your mood. So there is one of those types of 52 books that is called 52 Lists for Togetherness and I happen to have a copy of it. So I pulled that out and I'm going to give you some examples of those lists to get you thinking along the togetherness and community line. So I've got five examples.

Speaker 1:

So, number one list the places where your most significant relationships grew. Okay, so for me, my most significant relationships are my husband, my children, my family. So the answer for me is home and family homes, or my own home. Maybe church might also be where a significant relationship has grown. And number two here's the next one, no-transcript. Well, let's see, for me that's probably. I like to watch this YouTube channel called Garden Answer and it's about these people who grow a garden in Oregon and they're always planting things and growing things and I just like to watch that.

Speaker 1:

So, number three choose someone close to you and list the times that you've seen them the happiest. Okay, so for me, this is my husband, and I think about him laughing and talking to our girls, spending time with friends. He's usually the happiest when surrounded by a lot of family and having a meal and doing a lot of laughing, and I can just picture his face laughing. So, number four list all the ingredients that support happy and healthy relationships for you. First thing that comes to mind is boundaries. I think boundaries are really important to any happy relationship and healthy relationship. Probably also a lot of listening and some authenticity, maybe. And just because laughter is on the brain, I'll say fun and laughter, good times together, are the things that are ingredients in a happy and healthy relationship for me.

Speaker 1:

So, number five list some objects in your home that remind you of a loved one in a positive way. Okay, we have this piece of furniture. It's kind of like a cabinet and it's sort of Asian in its design flavor and it sits in our music room and it always was at my mother-in-law's house. She always had. She had it in every space that she lived in. She inherited it from someone else in her family and it's such a beautiful piece and then. She has passed away now, but she had to move several times to some different care facilities and that piece of furniture always went with her. So when I look at it it makes me think of her and I'm glad that we have it. So those are my five lists about community and togetherness. So hopefully that sort of got you thinking about ways to make connections with others.

Speaker 1:

So for our closing today I'm going to share a poem called In Community and it goes like this In community lies strength of numbers to support the sick and the weak. In community somebody hears me with louder voices to speak In community lies public purpose to shield from the harshness of life, to offer and receive common friendship, to protect from the gun and the knife. In community we teach each other about science and art and sport. From this we gain our vitality and through this our sickness is fought. In community, others surround us. Their dreams, their loves and their faces Encourage our hearts to prosper, our minds to accept other places In community.

Speaker 1:

Disaster may come, but grief shared and faith in our all makes death's pall linger less strongly. May it be so. Hope you found some new avenues for community after listening today. Hopefully that got you thinking about all the communities that you are are a part of, and gave you some good ideas about ways to lean into some of those more deeply. We'll be back next week with another winter well-being episode. We're nearing the end of our winter well-being content, so you want to stay tuned for all of those last little bits of that. And thanks again for joining us and until next time, peace, thank you.

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Sally Burlington

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