Helping each other come in from the cold

I was in Innsbruck, Austria at the beginning of May for an Art of Hosting training. It had been seven years since the last training at Haus der Begegnung and a fresh challenge for me to see if I could deliver a training and work in German for five straight day.s

During one of the World Café rounds, we invited each of the tables to craft a bumpersticker to harvest the essence of their conversation. (Well truthfully, I suggested the idea of a bumpersticker, but because no one in Austria knew what that was, the groups were asked to create an inspirational postcard quote. Surely that says something deeply cultural about where I grew up! 😂)

More than one table offered this sentence: Gemeinsam statt einsam (together instead of alone). Looking at the word "gemeinsam" more closely is intriguing. Something I'm doing for the first time as I'm writing this.

Inside this word, which is the root of the German word for community -- Gemeinde -- there is also the word "einsam" (alone). there is the word "gemein" (acting in a hurtful manner), there is the word "mein" (mine) and "ein" (one). Perhaps it could be said that this word reminds us to be kind to each one of us so we are no longer lonely and instead find ourselves together, bringing what is ours alone to share with community.

This deeper look touches me greatly...

May it be so!