community.. and making this summer matter

Welll, the more I talk/listen to people, the more I have to think about! So last night, Rach and I had a classic night together... which involves a comfortable couch/bed, and lots of laughter, maybe a tear or two, and the best conversations to fit both of our needs. everyone's got things to talk about when you're willing to just... open up! and talk about those things you might think about during the day, or feel. so something thats been coming up a lot in conversations with my mom and rach and others, is community! gosh how i love love loove the idea of it.

and i suppose that's why i'm beginning to brainstorm (something that is not done enough by our intelligent minds for these important life matters) ideas for making a community I care about and I feel is contributing to people who need it, or are willing to contribute to it. we live 20 minutes from downtown Baltimore, a city full of life, andd full of poverty and lack of life, and we live 45 minutes from the nations capitol, which has it's fair share of homelessness, crime, as well as beauty, success, and power (all those government buildings and what happens inside them). well that is a huge huge starting point.

a smaller, but still big, starting point for community is through churches like Cedar Ridge or The Church in Bethesda, one of which my dad started, and the other one that was started by Rob Kang and a group of great people.

And getting even more microscopic, but still blossoming with lots of opportunities and connections, is my house, me, the people I know who care about the world and themselves. how could i possibly experience community this summer in somewhat rural laurel maryland?

today i heard a great sermon by the new pastor at Cedar Ridge all about community, and taking risks, and what keeps people from taking risks (fear, laziness, being the victim, blaming others). I believe it will be available online through streaming mp3 at: http://www.crcc.org/converse/talks.htm, from May 21, 2006 sermon (it's not up right now, but it will be).

it got me thinking of ways cedar ridge could connect with the community more, and when i kept going, it got me thinking about my own personal life. after taking a poetry class with Mary Szybist at Lewis & Clark college, i developed a love for poetry and trying to express life through images. i would love to have a group meet at my house every week who would be dedicated to write a poem or two and we would all read eachother's poetry, and make suggestions... and also cook a meal together, and if we have musicians, maybe have a concert as well. This would take people who are interested in writing something, dinner could also be a place and time to sit and talk about important things if writing isn't exactly where people want to go with thoughts.

i'd want to meet some people i've never met before, or never gotten to know that well, and open this place up for some new discoveries to happen.

i'm also going on this road trip... which is so incredible because i'm connecting with a lot of people in my surrounding community to find places to stay/people to meet on our trip to Asheville, Atlanta, and then Biloxi, MS for relief work from hurricane katrina.

this blog is just part of the brainstorming going on, and i'd really like for these ideas to materialize in some delicious meals, conversations, poetry readings, house concerts... anything's possible! let's start talking about this, get in touch with me by email if you're interested - settle4more@gmail.com

i'm looking forward to the opportunities out there this summer,

jo