Home for Community

Good Morning -

I always have such visions of getting up early, getting going, and getting to work to have that precious, precious quiet work time before everyone starts to arrive with their stories and ideas and projects.

I have those visions and then the morning unwinds before me and suddenly it's after I thought I might be in the office and I'm still braless at my computer, sipping coffee and thinking that I'll be in early.

This is just that sort of morning.

Let's talk about the Virgen, though. As we know, I've been on the series since the end of October to discuss and explore what exactly I need in my home environment and what I will do to support the relationships with the things, people, animals, and environment that I need in aforementioned home environment.

I realized last night as I searched for an image that time is ticking along and soon it'll be past the 19th and this will be over and I don't know that I'll have explored this idea as thoroughly as needed nor cemented in my head the exact vision of the exact environment I want for my home.

(Being susceptible to magic, I can also be led astray by false deadlines of coaches to pumpkins as the midnight hour chimes...)

Setting such dramatics aside, though, let's look at the image I did select last night - people gathered around a table full of food, sharing and eating and generally enjoying each other. I cropped the image around the table rather than the guests because the group depicted doesn't quite express the diversity I need in my home environment, so it's not exactly what I intend to create.

But people gathered around a table enjoying communal food and stories? You bet.

Food is a powerful and a critical component of community. And it's not just because I was raised capital "R" Roman Catholic that I understand the mysticism and bonding that can occur with a shared meal - it's because food has that power that religions the world over incorporate some sort of shared eating into their ritual.

I need a home space in which I and others can create meals to share around a big table with our friends, family, and community. I need the set-up that allows for that sort of bonding over a meal. It's powerful, it's important, and it's what I love.

In return, of course, I promise to use such space for communal eating events (rather than the surface for mail, keys, etc. that our current small table exists as). I will regularly cook at home and share that food with friends, family, and community.

Here's to that. Here's to meals prepared and shared as a group. Here's to the power of food. Here's to community, and here's to home.