without ever even having to leave the house…

not leaving the house is generally the epitome of boring-ness for most people. some days i attempt that boring-ness by hiding in my room all day. sometimes i’m successful…

but without ever leaving the house, i can bump into or experience the following:

3 cats. 5 buildings each with at least four stories. coffee and tea with at least 20 daily. suppers with about 30. in silence now which leads to some fascinating non-verbal conversations. 15 or so children. dozens of adults. about 7 different nationalities. at least that many different languages. every different kind of personality there exists. chapel twice daily. cleaning to be done almost always. the necessity of schedules and lists and mailboxes and noteboards and bike parking places and signing oneself out. rooms are named so that they can be found. receptionists. social workers. doctors. nurses. cleaners. maintenance people. volunteers. visitors. personalities with varying degrees of reliability and stability and ability to be responsible and show up on time. many of us having an outside job. fire alarms and other alarms. 4 pianos. a number of other instruments. who knows how many radios. a library. two chapels. a candle making place. a bike shop. umpteen nooks and crannies to hide and store things in. a couple hundred stairs. something always lost. an ability to know whether there’s a major football game based on the level of noise one can hear through a closed window at the back of the house at 10 at night. from 7 in the morning to 11 at night there’ll be at least one person outside their room willing to sit around and talk. and all this without ever having to leave the house.

anyone who wants more excitement in their life ought to live in community. some days i choose to leave the house to get a little less excitement in my life.

but even as much as the excitement can be tiring, i can’t imagine any better way to live. or any other way where one is given so many glimpses into who others are – from how/whether they function at breakfast, their interactions with others, their relationships with their families, their desires and hopes, the range of experiences they’ve already had. and even it feels a bit of a burden sometimes (as no one quite grows or acts exactly how we want want them to), one is given the honour and privilege of walking alongside others as they grow in faith, wisdom, stability, and more.