Collective Grief and Deep Community

It’s Saturday morning, I’m a pinch under the weather, and Shout and I are catching up on all the Kobe tributes.

There’s a lot to take in.

One of the most powerful moments for me was during the Lakers’ tribute when the lights were out, there was complete silence, and the people gathered in the arena grieved collectively.

In coworking, we talk a lot about community. We talk about it as a better way to spend a day than sitting at home alone; we talk about the importance of belonging; we talk about dismantling loneliness through the simple act of sharing space.

But community runs deeper than that, and it runs deeper than coworking.

As humans, we are community.

When times are good, we soar, and celebrate, together.

When times are hard, we dig deep and find a way through, together.

We hold each other up.

We are community in action because that’s where our strength lies, that’s where our history lies, and that’s where our future lies.

I’m a lifelong lover of basketball, but I wasn’t much of a Kobe fan.

I know, I’m probably not supposed to say that, but it’s true.

But in all these tributes, I learned some new things, and my appreciation for his multi-dimensionality has grown.

One Kobe quote stands out for me, and it has little to do with basketball.

“You have to dance beautifully in the box that you’re comfortable dancing in…Your box is different than mine. Everybody has their own. It’s your job to try to perfect it and make it as beautiful of a canvas as you can make it. And if you have done that, then you have lived a successful life.”

Further together.