Connections and Your Tribe



We are a culture fascinated by celebrity and very voyeuristic in some of our behaviours.  We love a good story--about someone else.  We will spend hours listening to gossip about people we may or may not know about, because we crave that kind of connection.  We are pack animals and we need our pack or our tribe.  We need the interconnected feeling that stories provide us and we need it for our very being, if not our well-being. 

I love other people's stories because it does provide a chance to see another side of others, better understand their perspectives and priorities and, sometimes, hearing these stories brings you closer and/or makes you feel more connected.  It also makes me realize how much I have and how rich my life is.  When people open their lives, hearts and stories to you it is a gift.  For whatever reason, these people trust you (although, sometimes some may just need someone, anyone--but that's a different story).  Many of us are losing our connection with the people around us and not realizing it--sometimes because we are too busy checking our emails, texts and Facebook which allows us to pretend we are connected.  Being up on someone's business isn't necessarily being connected. 

I have my family who entertain me to no end, although they can aggravate just as well!  At the core of it, I'm very lucky to have made such a good choice in my spouse.  While I do spend a lot of time without Chief--he works so very much--he always has time to connect with us.  He spends his days dealing with life and death issues, office politics and he's the go-to man when drama hits--he has an even-keeled nature and is a good listener even when others are frantic, emotional and sometimes irrational.  He can cut to the chase without being too harsh, but he'll also give you a rash when you least expect it.  Despite doing this all day long with others, for long days and days on end, he still manages to come home and talk and interact with his family.  It really is a true gift that few of us choose to exercise.  (Don't start thinking he's a saint, because he's just as connected to his iphone as the next guy but when when we talk he looks us in the eye, listens and responds.)  Actual, focused interaction makes you feel loved, alive and part of something bigger than yourself.  I am a lucky and blessed woman.

This is my immediate tribe but my tribe consists of so many others.  Who are part of your tribe and how do they bless and enrich you?  What stories do you share with others and why?