A list of small joys

Community Organising, like life, can feel hard at times. The challenges are big and the change is slow. You have to appreciate the things that put a smile on your face. Here’s a few joys from my past 2 working weeks that I’d like to share.

Notable moments

• Being gifted runner beans from a core team member’s garden.
• So much laughter and warmth in a house meeting.
• A 1–1 alongside a giggling 1 year old.
• A core team realising how many people they have connected with over the summer and starting to strategize.
• Realising that people have developed really close friendships through working together.
• A meeting with people in power, led by a community member, where everything went just swimmingly and actions are already being followed up (by the big wigs).
• A 1–1 with sunshine in the community garden.
• Being wooed by a new spreadsheet.
• A new connection sharing photos from their weekend.

Notable quotes

“He gave me cake so I gave him one of your posters.”

“Being a part of this has given me the connections to make an idea into something that could actually happen.”

“I’m using my skills as a core team member to reach out wider in the community and help others to set their own things up.”

“Before we met, I didn’t realise that so many other people cared about this.”

“Being part of this has made me see things in a way I didn’t before.”

“I’ve realised that people look up to me and I can be the leader that I want to be.”

“First our surgery, then we can cascade best practice to others.”

“Well, everybody loves a tomato plant, don’t they?!”