It’s a Small, Weird, Wonderful World (and Maybe We Should All Live Together)
Written by Shelly Parks
We all agree—nothing beats gathering in person. Sharing a meal, laughing across the table, swapping stories… that’s the good stuff. But since our Explorers and Members are scattered all across the country, we’ve learned that Zoom can also be a wonderful way to stay connected.
Once a month, we host our Explorer and Member “general meeting.” Think of it as our monthly business huddle—where we make decisions together, share updates, and ensure everyone’s in the loop. But it’s not all business. We make sure there’s room for smiles, connection, and a little fun along the way.
At our most recent meeting, we broke into smaller Zoom breakout groups and explored some quirky, delightful connections among us. We discovered that group members have:
Lived in different countries at some point.
A deep desire to be seen wherever they go.
Broken a bone or two.
Struggled valiantly to speak languages other than English.
Come from families with only girl children.
This was just a glimpse of the lively common ground we uncovered. Every time we gather, we get to know each other better—and that’s the heart of building community.
We even kicked off this meeting with a poem that set the perfect tone for our conversations. We hope you’ll enjoy it, too…
It’s a Small, Weird, Wonderful World (and Maybe We Should All Live Together)
You meet someone new at a Thursday night meeting,
About building cohousing—small talk, zoom seating.
They mention their hometown and—wait, no way—
“You grew up in Springfield? Near Maple and Bay?”
Your moms both hoard buttons, your dads tell bad jokes,
You both have a cousin who raises fainting goats.
You once even worked in the same weird mall—
And both hate cilantro? That clinches it all.
And now, here you are, drawn by something new,
To build a small village with a likeminded crew.
To share in the laughter, the future dishes, the tears,
To borrow a drill and swap soup through the years.
A lawnmower we’ll share, a garden we’ll grow,
Kids who all know which house has the best cocoa.
You’ll fix my leaky faucet, I’ll bring you pie—
When life gives us lemons, we’ll group-bake a pie.
So here’s to the showing up and the stories we spin,
The people we didn’t know were our kin.
Why live apart, in our boxes of blue?
When this small, weird world keeps nudging us… you too?