I belong to a birthday club.
We share a sumptuous dinner four or (hopefully) five times a year in celebration of each of our births.
Here’s a picture from our most recent celebration:
I share this with you because service happens best when we are connected. When we dare to connect. When we dare to follow our craving for connection, for community, the shared commons.
I believe it is our greatest need. So many of us are terribly lonely, lost in disconnection. I believe by following our need, skillfully, to connect, we will best bring together self-care + world-care, and save ourselves.
Consider this from the wonderful New York Times blogger Tara Parker-Pope
“Researchers studied 34 students at the University of Virginia, taking them to the base of a steep hill and fitting them with a weighted backpack. They were then asked to estimate the steepness of the hill. Some participants stood next to friends during the exercise, while others were alone. The students who stood with friends gave lower estimates of the steepness of the hill. And the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.”
Don’t you know that to be true? Haven’t you faced those hills with and without your buddies?
Consider this excerpt from an interview with human rights activist and writer Marianne Elliot. She’s is one of our two Wise Person’s guests at the Savor & Serve Cafe this month – the other is meditation teacher Sally Kempton. What Marianne said about service and connection made me weep. It’s 1 minute and 12 seconds long – please please listen:
[haiku url=”https://jenniferlouden.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/MarianneExcerpt.mp3″ title=”Marianne Excerpt”]
Service is connection, savoring it, daring to make it.
How will you connect today? How will you feed your human need to connect and serve? I can’t wait to hear!
