Swirls of Past and Present

On Sunday, my church started a January sermon series, "New Year, New Me: Strategies for a Fresh Start." The sermon was focused on how our church community could think about what we used to look like pre-Covid and how we can move towards a "greater" version of ourselves in the future. I found the sermon provided useful tools for thinking about my own personal life.

I tend to struggle to remember the past unless I put in a lot of effort. This occurs on a micro level, such as not quickly or easily remembering what I did this morning. As well as on the macro level, such as not remembering what I did several years ago or as a child. So as a community, looking back was useful to help me "remember" my "pre-Covid self."

During the sermon, it was highlighted that many of us are doing less, especially less social activities, than we did "pre-Covid." Pastor J heighted the importance of noting "the difference between being thoughtful about what you do and being fearful of doing anything."

Personally, instead of "fearful", I simply am less in the mood to deal with social situations and less in the mood to deal with too much peopling. Covid was a period of time where I had a lot fewer interactions with people, and that new normal became very comfortable for me.

Being social is often a very draining situation, especially at first, and sometimes not wanting to put in the social energy means I don't do the social thing even if I know I will feel better after doing the social thing in the long term. This is something I have to relearn how to navigate.

Another quote from Sunday was "We deserve (and were created for) community in ways that work for us." Community is complex, and what we need at any given moment from it is ever-changing. Thinking about what we can get from being in community is useful because I often only think about what I can or should do for the community.

When I am only thinking about what I can or should do for the community, it becomes a burden. On the other hand, if I can think about what community can do for me, community can become metaphoric Möbius strip where we all are able to thrive more fully.

What did you look like pre-Covid? What do you look like now? What do you want to look like in the future? How can community help you reach your vision for the future and help you become a "greater" version of yourself?