I spent last saturday with both my kids, their mother, and a few families from their school in the biggest park in downtown Lyon, named 'Le Parc de la Tete d'Or' [or in english: 'the golden's head park' -- I never realised but, what a name!].
At the end of the day, a 'new' parent - freshly landed here from the US - posted in the whatsapp group: "lovely to be in community today. thank you.". It was indeed very lovely. And the use of the word 'community' in that context made me pause for a moment. Or more precisely: made me reflect on the meaning and value of a community. Which is kinda fun for a guy like me, who spent his entire life taking part in some communities, nurturing some others, building new ones.
Instead of trying to define what community is, I came across blog post describing what Community Feels Like. I found it extremely beautiful. Many things resonated a lot.
be interested and actively engaged in eachothers lives. not there for any other reason than a togetherness that can be found anywhere if you try. [...]
it feels like people care. people want to move things forward, together. [...]
community feels good. community feels like, you do your thing, i do my thing, and we see eachother. community feels like finding resonant paths, being open to what comes. community exists together, but does not demand. Community is helping eachother when in need. Community is asking for help without thinking, knowing you will be supported. Community is love. Community is a relational practice.
(Re)reading this for the nth time makes me realise (a) I'm part of so many communities - some of them for so long (b) experiencing life this way brings me immense joy. It invites me to be even more intentional with the communities I'd like to engage with, nurture, and the ones I still want to build.
And since I'm currently going through Sapiens again [this time through the graphic edition -- which is very cool btw], it reminds me how and why community feels so special to us: after all, living altogether and re-arranging groups as we please at such a scale is exactly what set us up apart from other species.
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Objet du jour
As far as I remember, when growing up, I strongly identified as a gamer and a skateboarder; which were perfect playgrounds/ interests for a french kid in the 90's/ teenager in the 2000's to explore every corner - and embrace them - of the Internet.
While gaming might be harder to guess for people seeing me in the streets, skateboarder is more straight forward. Here's my current setup. Full story engraved for eternity with Objet.
