Building Community

I won’t go into too much detail here because it really isn’t my business or my story to be telling to anyone. But I’m going to share a little with you because I find it relevant.

When you ask any Valkyrie in Valkyrie Squad what they love the most about the program, you’ll find a handful of them who will say things about the workouts themselves, or Sam’s personality, or how much fun it is to train like our favorite fictional characters.

And then you get the majority, who all are dying to tell you about the discord community.

Community. That word. The definition.

This is from Google, but I think it’s lacking.

A Community is a group of people with similar ideals, who support one another in not only their shared interests and endeavors, but in living their best lives.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been getting tidbits of information about a friend in dire need. We’ve checked in and visited a few times, and lent a hand where we felt it was needed. But then we heard things escalated, and my friend was scared. She had no safe spaces. She had minimal support. Lots of kind words from people, but no one was reaching out their hand.

Just Keep Reaching Out Your Hand…

So we did. My family and Besties family got together and we busted our asses. We moved heavy shit. Corralled and wrestled animals. Got dirty. Got sweaty. Cooked meals. Cleaned. Distracted and played with kiddos. We took on the work that needed to get done because we saw a family drowning with no way out.

And that’s what’s missing isn’t it? In our every day life, face to face, we don’t have that community. We don’t all have that crew who will step up and handle it when no one else will. But the thing is, that kind of support can be created in our real life so easily. It just requires you to reach out. The discord community and support I’ve received over the last year plus has made me more determined than ever to have that kind of community right here at my door.

We weren’t asked to do any of the things we took on this weekend. We just did it because we saw one of our own who needed help. And yeah, I feel great about doing it. But I didn’t do it just so I could write about it either. I did it to help a friend who really just needed to feel in control of her life again. A friend who needed to know she had people in her corner who were willing to do all kinds of things to make sure she could handle it. Bestie and I do that for each other all the time, but we’re besties, that’s how we roll. This was the first time I reached out to someone I wasn’t particularly close to in real life, and just said “It’s okay, we got this. We got you.”

Valkyrie Mindset and Comradery is something else entirely. And no, this friend I helped isn’t a Valkyrie yet, but maybe one day she’ll feel like she can, because she got the support she needed from two of them.

It’s easy to say kind words to strangers on the internet. It’s harder to reach out in person, it’s harder to accept help in person. It’s hard from all sides. But it’s worth it. So freaking worth it.

I am tired. I am exhausted. My body is wiped out. So today I am sitting very intentionally on my ass. I have foam rolled. I will go for a walk. But otherwise I am laying low and doing zilch.