Togetherness

Everyone could use some occasional support. Blogs, FaceTime, email, text are all terrific! But nothing compares to actual in person interactions. A gathering of people can be inspiring, healing and powerful! As you can tell, I love groups. I have been facilitating groups on a variety of topics for over 20 years. I currently lead domestic violence groups for perpetrators and children who witness DV, wellness groups and exercise groups. I get excited before each and every group! I love the energy of a pack of people who get together to do the same thing! The vibe is contagious! My job as a facilitator is to stick to the plan, get the party started, initiate interaction and make people feel comfortable. It doesn’t take long for the bonding to start. In a given week I see people hug, exchange gifts, carpool and lots of other kinds of connections that can’t happen online. It makes me smile when I think about how these people didn’t know each other before “group.” Sometimes people forget how much we need each other. Yesterday I wrote about ” empty buckets.” Isolation will deplete your bucket at an alarming rate! Today I will co-lead a couple of groups for children who witnessed domestic violence. It is validating for them to look at each other and say, “This stuff happened at your house too?” This weekend I will co-lead an exercise group with my husband at Whole Body Fitness, a wellness studio we own. People will encourage each other to push through it, but we will laugh and make it fun in the process. We started a boxing group 2 weeks ago and it’s already selling out! I know I can’t plank alone. I need my posse. Well… I know I can do it alone. But I will go longer and enjoy it more when I’m with my peops. Who are your peops? Do they provide you with the support you need to grow and learn? Do you need a new clique?
“We human beings are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others’ actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others’ activities. For this reason, it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others.”
Dalai Lama XIV.