Community. Is it a group of people living in proximty? Is that all it comes down to?
I have discovered, especially today, that it is not. As members of this wildly diverse and disparate group of misfits and "norms", freaks, geeks and weirdos, the pure and the pervs, we do not fit this mold at all. Proximity, but by only a loose definition.
We share our love here for the weird, the different and the just plain silly. We, as a group, come together out of loneliness, out of boredom, out of excitement to share with like-minded people.
And, of course, boobs. Heh.
We share, with people we really only barely know. We share our hopes, our dreams, our fears and daily mishaps and triumphs.
Why? Because we know that the community will accept us.
I found out, just minutes ago, that @dot passed today. I did not know her, yet my heart quailed at the news. Rationally, it should not have. But thank all that is sacred that I am not wholly rational. I feel for her friends and family, for those who feel gutted by this.
As a side note, I met @sean a few minutes ago. And probably made a complete ass of myself. Everything I had, the simple thank you that I'd wanted to convey to him was spayed by the news. And feeling awkward, I walked away after he was gracious and polite to me. And I forgot to thank him.
This is me, chortling ruefully at myself.
All this is part of this think we call community. We share, yes. Definitely. We share it all. Our Awkwardness, our compassion, our grief, our joy and our brotherhood.
We may not live in proximity, but we share life. Life, in all it's beauty, all its cruelty, and all its mystery.
To me, that is community.
Thank you, one and all, for being here.
