The Power of Relationships

One of the ways I'm constantly measuring whether my work is meaningful is by the quality of my relationships.

How am I getting along with important people in my life? Are we synching? Are we connecting? Are we collaborating? Are we holding space for each other? Are we listening and supporting and empowering and encouraging each other?

If so, what are the conditions that are in place for all that to happen? How can they be routinized? How can they become the foundation from which everything else is built upon?

And, if not, how can/should/will I change my dynamic so that I'm in better relationship with the people who matter to me? What has to shift? What has to change? What do I have to do differently?

I'm very comfortable being alone. I can sit and read in a cafe by myself for hours. I can write or play guitar or watch a soccer game without the need to be with other people. Heck, I even drove around the country in my truck for four months by myself when I was 25.

So it's not that I can't function in isolation, or that I'm not independent, or that I can't do things without the help of others.

It's just that I prefer the camaraderie, the community, the solidarity, the sangha of other people.

The energy, the mutuality, the shared purpose.

When I've got all that, things are good.