Community

I'm blogging with Parvati Tyler from Fighting Monkey Press over the weekend in honor of Community and Eid.

I'm one of those people who adores to be alone. When I have time to sit and write or read on my own, in silence, with a cup of tea by my side, I'm in heaven.

And yet, groups are important too. I have many important communities in my life. Most important in my life: my family. We straggle together and fight together, sometimes we weep and there are loads of laughs as well. My daughter, my husband, and my sister are first in my life, forever more.

I am supremely lucky to have a host of wonderful friends. I've known some of them since I was six. And with these friends, I must add some that I have never met. I correspond daily with writers and readers across the globe, and they are some of the most dear, caring people I know.

The funny thing is, communities can create themselves constantly. When I studied in Valencia, I ended up as part of a group of students. They were a lot of fun, and we hung out constantly. We helped each other out and explored that beautiful city.

It was the same when I stayed in Mexico. I immediately became part of a group of friends who traveled around Cuernavaca with me. We negotiated the Mexican bus system, museums, supermarkets, and it was spontaneous. It was community.

I think that there are groups yet to come into my life. Others will pass out of it. It's like I'm swimming through a series of bubbles, each filled with different communities of people. They greet me as I pass through, and for that one moment, although our names and skins are completely different, we are family.

PS - Don't forget to enter the huge giveaway run by Pavarti and Fighting Monkey Press. You can find the Rafflecopter code below on the right side of this blog. Just scroll to the bottom of the page.