Community and Connection

Everyone talks about how connection with the world and the community around you matters, AND everyone says it is good for business. But there is so much more to it than that! Community gives you a sense of purpose and altruism that doesn’t come from passion, hobbies or love alone. After spending a fair bit of time the other week volunteering at a couple of different events, I find I have been reenergized in so many unexpected ways.

Setting up puzzles for 20 elementary school kids to have fun putting back together again, after they ate their breakfast. It was provided by the Airdrie Food Bank and made me see that the simple act of this low tech interaction felt like a huge accomplishment to these kids.

You could see it in their faces as they used their hands and their friends to match up the colour of pieces in the puzzle. It didn’t matter if the puzzle was too hard for them, they just liked that challenge.

They were only there for such a short time that they didn’t really have time to complete it anyway, but that didn’t matter either. This is something we can learn from them. Do the best you can, in the time you have and consider that a job well done.

The second volunteering event that we love to be part of is the Airdrie Angel Angel Lift day at Good Earth Coffeehouse. The Carre Group and Switchback had the pleasure of partnering to help put this event together, but all that really matters when you get to be a part of it all and watch the day unfold.

A couple of our favourite moments were watching kids that had never met before challenge each other to simple games, and to have my mom come and watch her play with these same kids just like they were her grandchildren.

Giving back really is a selfish thing because we are positive that we got more from it than they did, and that energy will carry with us through the weeks and months.

What can you do to connect with your community this month. It’s never too small an act to get started.

Previously posted on SwitchbackCreative.ca