Today I write to celebrate community, to celebrate unity that exists amongst us, to celebrate the feeling of limitless possibilities when surrounded by people who lift you up, to celebrate gatherings of people from all walks of life sans judgement. Four months ago, I decided to embark on a journey to deepen my yoga practice. After some time of desperation, I sought yoga as a practice of self-care and healing. I was focused on reaping its benefits on a personal scale to complement the work I was doing in therapy and otherwise. Little did I know that months later new realms of connection and intimacy were going to appear in the form of community. A type of love and support showed up in the form of a group setting that I did not know was possible.
My upbringing in Jordan exposed me to the power of community from a young age. I was surrounded by family and friends on a daily basis. People always went out of their way to ensure the wellbeing of community members. Since I relocated to the United States, the concept of community as I knew it slowly started to disappear. I became much more focused on my own individual goals and wellbeing. While this allowed me to explore myself in new powerful ways, and also showed me the importance of taking care of myself first, ultimately, I felt limited in my scope as an individual to live a fulfilling life without a community of supportive and loving members.
In juxtaposing these two environments, I reflect on the concept of community and what it means to me today. Rather than just belonging to a community that I was born into, I now also actively think about setting intention around supportive communities. I am thankful to my community for showing me that it is possible to have a space that celebrates quirkiness, embraces life’s various nuances, and above all, ensures that love rules all.