I think a short while back I wrote about a quote I had seen saying not to give up until you find your tribe because it is out there. I cannot recall when that was to link up here, but anyway, I am certain I at least made a comment somewhere recently.
In having changed my life completely with marriage, quitting work and trying to start my own business, I have lost my tribe a bit. Plus, some friendship changes really shook it up. So, I have been trying hard to keep up the search based on my new life. There are definitely some lovely new people in my life through my different activities and I am staying open to meeting even more wonderful people.
However, tribes take time and effort that is not always easy to put in. It is also hard to replace ones that existed before when they were so amazing. Being an expat and living a semi-transient life makes this even more true.
Still, there is nothing like meeting up with those whom you can love and be loved back unconditionally.
Although we were a bit slow in getting together, my closest gfs got together the other night to finally celebrate one of them finishing her PhD (over a year ago) and getting her work promotion (a long stressful process that came through last week!). We had not met up for months – maybe before the summer holidays, in fact! So, it was so so sooooo nice to hang out with them – to laugh, tease, joke, be serious and share each other’s lives together despite our long time going at it on our own. I have met with them separately, but there is something different and warming about coming together as a community – no matter how small it is.
Then, I went line dancing on Wednesday. I had decided to do it on my own. I had met the teacher before sort of by chance at golf the week before. Even though it is not exactly like me to try something new alone, I had been interested and felt it was a sign to go when I met the teacher. To my surprise and happiness, one of the other ladies I golf with each week was there. It was such a nice chance to speak with her individually and get to know her a bit better. We have things in common and she is so welcoming into the things she does. It made the line dancing event better as this is not my usual group of people at an event. So…my tribe can grow and be enriched through these kinds of pushing of my boundaries.
Therefore, while my business networking may have gone a different way, finding my new tribe or an expansion of my old one is full of exciting opportunities. It lifts my spirit to have these small social victories. π
~T π
