A writing web site I recently joined challenged me to think of a community I recently joined. Since I'm a confirmed introvert, joining communities is not something I do well - or do at all,actually. And my husband and I haven't moved recently. We've lived in the same house in the same town for almost 30 years. So my initial reaction was to say that I haven't joined any new communities recently. Didn't plan to, either.
Then, I went to the health club to work out -- at 10:00 in the morning. My usual workout time is somewhere between 4 and 5 in the morning. But, today, because it was very cold at 4:30, I didn't go work out until 10:00. A whole new group of people were in the gym. I have a set of "gym buddies" that I see in my early morning workouts. But, these people, the 10am work out people, are different.
This is a new community for me - the community of mid-morning, leisurely exercisers. People who don't have to haul themselves out of bed before day light to get a workout in. People who move more slowly, slump a little more, limp a little more, have a little less hair and a little more gut. People with more time. One group of guys sat at the counter and told bad jokes to each other. The owner of the gym was there, and took time to chat with me about our shared dislike of shopping. I even grabbed a schedule of classes thinking that maybe I'd sign up for a zumba class or something new.
So, yes, I did join a new community today. I'll probably go back to the early morning group most mornings. I like my early morning gym buddies, so I'll probably go back to the early morning group most mornings for a while. But I also like the looks of this newer, more laid back, slower community. The ones who have time to tell jokes and chat. The retirees.
