Finding Fellows, Finding Friends: Forming a Creative Community

“When in doubt, define your terms.”

As a teacher I often gave that piece of advice when a student was struggling to get started on almost any type of essay, but especially that dreaded persuasive essay that was a part of so many classrooms.

My assignment this week is to encourage us all (by writing a persuasive essay?) to  “find or form a group of fellow creatives to meet with on a regular basis for encouragement.” That’s the phrasing we use on our website’s toolkit under the heading “creative community.”

Let’s start at the end shall we.

com·mu·ni·ty: /kəˈmyo͞onədē/

noun

1. a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common
2. a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals

Since the beginning of Grow Me a Story (last December, I believe) I have valued being in community with other people in ways that I never have before, perhaps because I have been more conscious of the communities I was a part of. I have sensed “a feeling of fellowship with others” through the pursuit of my own creative goals that has been quite surprising to me at times. I think I have often assumed that to pursue my own creative goals could only lead to a selfish, narrow minded focus on me. I’ve decided that can be true, but doesn’t have to be true, especially if I intentionally, consciously take stock of the communities I am a part of.

Next, let’s look at the phrase “fellow creatives.”

I have found myself asking the question “Who isn’t a fellow creative?” After all, in the world of Grow Me a Story, everyone is creative…but not everyone is a fellow. The origin of the word fellow includes the idea of a relationship where two or more people “lay down money (or something of value) in a joint enterprise.” I do so appreciate those of you who “lay down” your time, your presence, your money - thank you, subscribers - to be a fellow creative with Carol and I in this venture. When you take time to read, respond, Zoom, attend in person, share, subscribe, you are experiencing with us the relationship of “fellow.” Kinda cool.

Which leads me to the third and final focus for my persuasive essay this morning, this phrase from our creative community description above: “meet…on a regular basis.”

Last week I mentioned that my childhood best friend, Rory Lowe, had joined the ranks of the recently retired, and that I was trying to decide how to best congratulate him since I haven’t reached out by phone, text, letter, email, or in person since I retired in 2020. I do not communicate with Rory on a regular basis. Twice in my life I have moved away from Meridian to Kellogg, leaving behind my friend, my fellow, and left behind any sense of what it meant for the two of us to “meet on a regular basis.”

In spite of that lack of planning or clarity in our relationship, I have always felt that the invitation was there, to be friends, to be fellows. And it is that feeling that we want to have with each one of you.

To all of our readers, Carol and I wish to say: the invitation is there, always, to join us as a fellow creative, wherever you are in your creative journey. Is it time for us to meet on a more regular basis? Let’s talk that over, and see what that means. Are life decisions requiring you to move away from your time commitment to Grow Me a Story? Don’t worry, the invitation is always there to renew our creative fellowship.

Hey, Rory. Interested in going fishing?

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Find some time this month to evaluate your time commitment to your creative communities. We invite you to share with us your struggles and your successes on your own creative journey.

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