A Moment in Time

Most of us lead busy lives. We fill our days with either school, sports, band and homework -- or getting the kids ready for school, making lunches, picking them up, and dealing with after-school issues – and/or working to make ends meet, maintaining the house, planning for retirement – or dealing with chronic or crisis health care issues, adjusting to a fixed income, taking care of a “bucket list,” and just making the most of life at a slower pace.

Regardless of our spot in the timeline of life, we are constantly moving, and it can be hard to pay attention to individual moments.

But then there are special moments, when time seems to stop for a bit and we are able to really, deeply see what is happening all around us.

I had such a moment yesterday.

It was the Open House for the South Whidbey Commons. For days, the Board, Staff, AmeriCorps Team, and VOLUNTEERS had worked to set the stage. And on Sunday morning, they turned on the lights!

Volunteers from 12 – 45 walked into the Commons and set about their work alongside the others. Middle school students, high school students, adult professionals, all stepped up to clean the house, prepare food, brew coffee, greet guests, refill platters, and tell the story of the Commons.

What skills did this take? And understanding of food safety, an eye toward minimizing waste, an ability to work with a large team in a small space, a willingness to do the same thing over and over again for 3 hours, a voice to represent the story they had lived as a trained volunteer, a sense of comfort in guiding peers of different ages through the motions of a complex event, and a desire to have fun through it all.

Too many words? Let’s cut to the chase. Yesterday, I saw the volunteers at the South Whidbey Commons ROCK!!!!! They gave forward to their community, knowing that it was a good investment. They practiced food handling, cash handling, customer service, and community building with every interaction they engaged in.

And they did it in celebration of a small space in Langley that has been shaped into a home for Community. They did it in partnership with a Board that has been driven by passion and a hunger for connectedness between the glorious individuals who live on south Whidbey. They did it because they had a sense of ownership in the Commons.

Turns out, the guests had this same sense of ownership too! During the Open House, the volunteers overheard them bragging. That’s right, bragging.

“This is where I offer SAT prep classes.” “This is where I host financial planning classes.” “I put in THAT window.” “I painted THAT room.” “I played music in this room.” “My writing group meets here.” “ I worked in that garden.” “I sit here to work on my book.” “I donated three bags of books for the bookstore.” “I come in three times a week for coffee and a scone.”

It was a very good moment. For a lot of people.  It was a celebration of community, in every sense of the word.

We hope you were a part of it. If not, don’t worry. Come by anytime. The moment is always there to be enjoyed. You just have to slow down long enough to see it.

We’ll be waiting for you!