The Village

It takes a lot of people to take a few days away with my husband. 

Erin helped with the Pomegranate on Tuesday as she has some downtime between her two dance classes. (She takes a ballet from 4-5:30 and then a jazz class which is new at our studio) from 7:45-8:30. 

I love these pictures above because: Erin is the cleanest person I know and check out that laundry on her bed :) 

(To be fair, they are planning to move across the world in two weeks so life is a bit chaotic.) 

And then their Loki dog. Craziest dogs ever she has … that picture is classic “Alien Dog.”

We all need a village

“The Village” refers to a few other people who have these characteristics: 

1. They care deeply about your growth, maturation, and healing. 

2. They are more mature than you and stronger than you. They have done their own work of healing and maturation. 

3. They are eager to respond to you by providing comfort, care, and guidance. 

4. They are willing to make themselves available to you when you need them. 

When we come into the world, we are designed to anticipate the presence of “The Village.” We anticipate 2-3 people will be in our lives who me these criteria for us and that they will always be there for us. 

When “The Village” is not there for us when we are growing up, we begin to isolate on our own to figure out life and figure out healing. We can’t feel Belonging — true Belonging evades us. This is because true Belonging is about knowing there are people there for us. 

This carries over to the concept of Elders. Most modern cultures lack Elders. An Elder is someone who knows how to handle their power. They are warriors who know that they have power and that their power is intended to be used on behalf of the community, particularly on behalf of the wounded. 

Most of us are waiting for “The Village” to appear so we can fully acknowledge our sorrows. Or so that we can acknowledge all of our emotions and fully tell all of our stories. We are waiting to risk speaking candidly about our heartaches and pains. 

Imagine the relief that would flood our whole being if we knew that when we are in the grip of sorrow, our village will respond to our need. Anytime you needed comfort, care or guidance, “The Village” would show up immediately and help us through the hard things. What if you didn’t have to figure out healing by yourself? 

If you don’t have a Village, persist in looking. Don’t give up. This may mean you being unhealthy relationships. Find or develop a small community of like-minded warriors to help you engage your story. Grit and persistence will take you farther than you can imagine. 

You don’t need to tell NO ONE and you don’t need to tell EVERY ONE!

Make Sense of Your Story — Adam Young