creating community

Unemployment wears on the spirit.  Underemployment wears on the spirit.  So I am attmepting to employ myself in creating a community among un/underemployed kindred spirits because my spirit needs companionship to navigate these troubled waters.  I believe there maybe others who could use the spiritual support of community too.

It's a curious undertaking to create community through blogging though because all of the physical reactions--nodding heads, raised eyebrows, bored looks, smiles, etc. are missing from the blog community :o.  It's thought and emotion that comes through in a blog.  I have seen people say things in email communication that they would never say to someone's face.  I suspect the same is true with blogging.  Still this is the new employment of our day.

Employers use the internet and online applications to field a pool of applicants for open positions.  Every time I fill out such an application on the web I feel like I am throwing my resume down a black hole.  Some HR departments show a little sensitivity when they send a reply indicating that they have received my application and it often includes the warning not to respond to "this email" because no one is on the other end.  Yes, successful job hunting like creating true community requires some face time : ( and that is at a premium these days.  I think the trick is to cherish the face time we do have with family and friends.  To make time with this community--family and friends--a deeper more spiritually nourishing experience. 

How does this happen, this spiritually nourishing time with family and friends?  One way it happens for me is to remember as many of the things about each relationship for which I am grateful.  A spiritual director of mine once told me that "the path to joy is gratitude".  I find that when I think of attributes of my husband, children and friends "thanks" whispers in my heart and I become hungry for more reasons to be grateful.  And now I am happily employed, at least for a while, in piling up gratitudes and my spirit takes flight for a time.  Not a bad day's work.

Next blog: dealing with anxiety...