If I am being honest, with all the moving around I have done in my life, it has led to some very lonely seasons. Here is an overview of all the places I have lived in chronological order: born in southern California from there I have since lived in Idaho, New Mexico, Washington, Arizona, and California (while there, in both Orange County and LA). That list gets me through college and the list continues after college with Italy, Tennessee, Idaho, California, South Carolina, and Arizona. You may find some repetition but those were all different cities/different communities. It’s been a lot and what’s more, it’s been taxing on friendship building. Because of the roots we did build in some of those places, we have best friends spread out in many of those states but currently no family or best friends directly near us and that can be HARD. So, rather than get on here and tell you this category exists because I have the very best social life possible, I am actually pushing for this because I’ve known the depth of loneliness in many seasons. It has lead me to realize just how absolutely necessary community is and feels freeing to admit to my loneliness out loud.
And no, it’s not a comfortable, easy journey to develop community. It takes awkwardness, vulnerability and a whole lot of time to build deep friendships. And as uncomfortable as it can be and the many bad first impressions you may make, the best way out of loneliness is through the sometimes awkward effort of building relationships.
Maybe your introverted and thinking you don’t have the same need for community, but the second greatest commandment is to love others as you love yourself. Even those who are introverted need time to socialize and it may look different for all of us, but in a world overrun by anxiety (and especially that of the social kind), I think it a necessary push out of our comfort zones and into the lines of fire; the reward of friendship is worth it all.
So, with that intro, in this category you can expect to be challenged to step out of your comfort zone and get social. I hope to inspire you with creative ideas for authentic social hangs that are as creative and fun in real life as they look online.
I also will use this space to share photos and inspo from future socials hosted by Shindig Social. If you want to be invited to those socials, you can sign up to become a member of The Social Club here and join me in the journey.
Here’s to the year of the dinner parties 🥂
