Life Requires A Community | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Relationships

Life Requires A Community

Find the rainbows.

3
Life Requires A Community
Wallpaper Up

When the world is spinning around you, and you can’t catch your breath: who do you run to? Is it your mom, best friend, a hero from a novel, or faith that is your safe haven?

No matter what stage of life, there will always be moments of terror or despair; however, those rainy days are the ones that allow for rainbows. Independence is a wonderful and accomplished achievement, but the ups and downs of living aren’t intended to be experienced alone. Parents give us the tools we need to find ourselves, whether or not the lessons were hard or not is kind of irrelevant.

People say, “The ends defeat the means”, and this ideal has a different connotation to different people, but in this case, I gain the peace that even the parents who probably shouldn’t have been parents give you the one and only thing you need to find yourself: a chance. A chance by being born, a chance by doing the best they can at that moment.

Now, in my personal relation, my mom was and is everything to me. She is my home, the safe place that is always welcoming and steadfast as I leave again each time. My dad is a man with no biological relation to me, but he instilled sects of traits into my personality throughout his time in my life. The other half of my genetic make-up is a man who has done the best he can. Sadly, his best wasn’t good enough for me, so I created my own family because life is meant to be experienced in community.

I have never been one that had a best friend, until now. We knew each other for months that have felt like lifetimes, and when stubbornness is keeping me from moving forward, she picks me up to move me herself. Because sometimes when the rain is pouring in buckets from the sky you need someone to dance to the beat of your own drums with.

My memories are shared by characters more real to me than the stranger walking past me on the street. Elizabeth Bennet, America Singer and Liesel Meminger: just to name a few, are the people who taught me that it was OK to dream big and impossible wishes and that with enough determination, you can get pretty dang close. Their experiences taught me how easily hopes change and that it is OK to dream a new dream. Their trials and tribulations were wake up calls I ran to when I needed a bit of perspective. Because in life you can’t live it all, so why not learn from the imagination of author after author?

The consistency of life’s uncertainty can be a bit daunting and overwhelming at times, so the same amount of consistency in faith balances out the fear of the unknown with peace and acceptance that sometimes circumstances are beyond our control. Life is a crazy beautiful thing that no one should have to enjoy alone. There is a vast difference between loneliness and a nomadic lifestyle. Find your community whether filled with the spirits of the world or the people of the world.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
two women enjoying confetti

Summer: a time (usually) free from school work and a time to relax with your friends and family. Maybe you go on a vacation or maybe you work all summer, but the time off really does help. When you're in college you become super close with so many people it's hard to think that you won't see many of them for three months. But, then you get that text saying, "Hey, clear your schedule next weekend, I'm coming up" and you begin to flip out. Here are the emotions you go through as your best friend makes her trip to your house.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Syllabus Week As Told By Kourtney Kardashian

Feeling Lost During Syllabus Week? You're Not Alone!

645
Kourtney Kardashian

Winter break is over, we're all back at our respective colleges, and the first week of classes is underway. This is a little bit how that week tends to go.

The professor starts to go over something more than the syllabus

You get homework assigned on the first day of class

There are multiple group projects on the syllabus

You learn attendance is mandatory and will be taken every class

Professor starts chatting about their personal life and what inspired them to teach this class

Participation is mandatory and you have to play "icebreaker games"

Everybody is going out because its 'syllabus week' but you're laying in bed watching Grey's Anatomy

Looking outside anytime past 8 PM every night of this week

Nobody actually has any idea what's happening this entire week

Syllabus week is over and you realize you actually have to try now...or not

Now it's time to get back into the REAL swing of things. Second semester is really here and we all have to deal with it.

panera bread

Whether you specialized in ringing people up or preparing the food, if you worked at Panera Bread it holds a special place in your heart. Here are some signs that you worked at Panera in high school.

1. You own so many pairs of khaki pants you don’t even know what to do with them

Definitely the worst part about working at Panera was the uniform and having someone cute come in. Please don’t look at me in my hat.

Keep Reading...Show less
Drake
Hypetrak

1. Nails done hair done everything did / Oh you fancy huh

You're pretty much feeling yourself. New haircut, clothes, shoes, everything. New year, new you, right? You're ready for this semester to kick off.

Keep Reading...Show less
7 Ways to Make Your Language More Transgender and Nonbinary Inclusive

With more people becoming aware of transgender and non-binary people, there have been a lot of questions circulating online and elsewhere about how to be more inclusive. Language is very important in making a space safer for trans and non-binary individuals. With language, there is an established and built-in measure of whether a place could be safe or unsafe. If the wrong language is used, the place is unsafe and shows a lack of education on trans and non-binary issues. With the right language and education, there can be more safe spaces for trans and non-binary people to exist without feeling the need to hide their identities or feel threatened for merely existing.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments