Sitting In The Living Room

It's cold this morning. Not the kind of cold that leaves everything covered in frost, but the kind of cold that can easily creep into your bones if you don't find a sunny corner to sit in.

So, to write this post, I've moved out of the office where it is quiet but cold -- and into the "living room" of the Commons where sunshine is streaming in through the windows and lively conversations are being built all around.

It's fascinating, how the hum of thoughts being shared can be at once peaceful and invigorating.

The mission of the South Whidbey Commons is to strengthen community by offering opportunities and places for people to gather, learn and grow. Sitting here, I see all of that happening, without experts on hand to facilitate or teach, without students sitting in rows, without a sound system to establish the one voice everyone should be listening to.

Sitting here, I see it happening as one of our adult barista volunteers visits with someone from out of town about Kichili's Bakery, where we get our bagels. I see it happening as an AmeriCorps team member creates a beautiful sign to highlight the soup of the day.  I see it happen as someone reads a book, and another writes one of their own. I see it happen as one coffee drinker leans over to suggest a recipe they just found in the paper to a tea drinker sitting nearby. I hear it happen as conversations (I'm only lightly eavesdropping, I promise) dance around the importance of the arts in our daily life, the best experiences they had in Morocco last year, and the nearness of the holidays. I laugh as it happens when three individuals from three different groups recognize each other around the room and jump up to share greetings and hugs. And I participate in it as I schedule a group of elementary students to come sit in The Backroom to talk about their visit to the library and the books they will choose next week.

I'm glad it's cold this morning and that the sun in the Living Room pulled me out of the office space for a while.

Maybe it's pulling you this way too? Coffee's on!