I was watching my college sorority sister, Shannon Morscheck, on her Instagram story. She was talking about how she has a deal with one of her girlfriends that they visit each other’s houses once a week and help with whatever hard chore the other is facing. This week, Shannon was struggling with weeding her garden to prepare for this new season of growth. Her encouragement to her followers was to find a person that will motivate you to get the hard stuff done in your life whether that be the laundry, the weeding, or whatever. I thought to myself how helpful a friend like that would be in the midst of my never ending to-do list and then it hit me — I already do. One of my first village members was one of my best friends from college. Every wild adventure that I can think of from our younger years includes a memory of her in it.
She wasn’t just there for all the fun but the hard parts of my life too. Right before my dad died, I was in the process of redecorating of my bedroom. In all my gusto, I had pulled all my clothes out of the closet and had them all over my room trying to figure out what should stay, trashed, or be donated. After my dad passed away, I went to stay with my mom to support her. After a week, I returned home. I couldn’t believe my eyes! My whole room had been fully painted, trim included. All my clothes had been picked up and put back in the closet. I couldn’t believe it! There were tears — lots of the them.
Come to find out, it was that villager that led the charge in putting my room back in order so I had some normalcy in my life. That wasn’t the last time either. When my mom passed away, she came and slept on my couch to make sure I ate, slept, and felt supported while I grieved. When I had my double mastectomy in January, she again came and lived with me for my first 72 hours. She was my muscle to help me move when it felt impossible. And it doesn’t end there. When I decided to paint my house, she was the one that offered to help, even though she thought I was crazy!
While it might not look the same as other people’s lives, we all have villagers that will be that loyal friend that shows up to do the “hard stuff”, the stuff that we lack the motivation to accomplish, the stuff that we need some help to get started. So echoing Shannon’s encouragement, find a friend and a villager that helps you show up to get started when life feels like a big mess or even too hard to start. Everyone needs a villager that is as loyal as the day is long and will show up for you in the tough, the hard, and the mundane to help.
I couldn’t ask for a better villager than this friend! She is the most loyal and reliable person I’ve ever met. She makes me want to do better for others by showing up and being a constant in other villagers’ lives. In a previous post, I wrote about calling out the gold in others, but sometimes we just need to take a moment and relish in the gold of others and say “thank you” along the way.
Building Bridges 