so, a couple of my good friends talk about their "tribe" or their "village" and how much they love how it takes care of them and their family. how they do life together. i have been lucky to be a part of a couple of online "villages" that have banded together around eachother during recent tradgedies. but it makes me think more and more about how to create this kind of a village in real life.
i find it to be quite a challenge to have a true sense of a village living in suburbia. with only one car (grumble grumble). with all my friends in other areas of the region. with a busy 17 month old that still doesn't sleep through the night (and a mommy who doesn't know how to go to sleep early anymore - yes, i know i'm still up. :P)
i long for a close-knit community. i long for closer friendships with my friends. i long to be more supportive and in general, more in the lives of the people i love.
i find this challenging because i seem to be pretty addicted to online communities/forums. i love my Facebook, and am a pretty active participant in at least 1 forum and less active in a couple more. this leads to a lot of online time. so much that my daughter likes to crawl over to me, beg to be picked up and sit on my lap while i'm at my laptop (embarrased smiley). so, what do i do? it is so easy to be a part of an online community. it's only words, and you rarely ever interact in real life (unless you have IRL friends on your forum too). you can "be" someone else too, when you're online.
so, how do you balance your online life with your IRL community? how do you balance home life with your blogging/other online presence(s)? i long to know. and to be challenged to really develop my friendships.
