This story has absolutely nothing to do with acupuncture and everything to do with happiness & the value of community.

It was a normal day, we were minding our own business & getting on with life as usual when suddenly out of nowhere our precious green valley was surrounded by out of control fires. And just when we might have needed it, we had no electricity, the lines were down – in rural environments no power means no pump – and this means no water to spray on flying embers or douse fires.

Catastrophic weather predictions were announced and evacuation became an imminent reality. Fires were coming from several different directions which meant having to devise an escape route. And a back up escape route in case the first one caught fire too. Our beautiful farmstead was thick with smoke, the advice was ‘leave early’. What to pack? Here was ‘existential question #1’. What is so important to me to protect on this day when everything else I have may be burned to cinders? What will fit in this suitcase? What will fit in my tiny car?

Thanks to some wonderful neighbours we were offered refuge in their holiday home on the coast. This presented a wonderful opportunity to finally get to know them, to date we had all been so busy previously we had not found time to hang out with them. Then another set of neighbours arrived, more people we had not yet had a chance to get to know, nor their 5 dogs.

Eleven of us (including the fur babies), mostly strangers, spent that day and night talking as tornado-like winds whipped around the cottage, sharing stories, sharing wine and food, being thoughtful and considerate of each other, knowing we all might not have homes to return to next morning. We ‘power-bonded’, suddenly all us wildly disparate personalities had something very much in common.

Through this night we had no news of our valley, nor the many other neighbours, young and old who had chosen to stay to defend their homes and their animals. As we socialised we knew hundreds of koalas and native animals had just or were still currently burning, just around the corner. Existential experience #2.

We were lucky, the winds blew in our favour. Plus our small rural fire brigade team fought like giants for 10 days & nights straight to protect our valley and this awesome community. The HOFH team rose to the occasion and were such a wonderful support to me when I was unable to come into work. And thanks to our valley’s private community Facebook page we had been able to keep tabs on many residents and ensure people and their animals found sanctuary – whoever imagined Facebook would play such an important role in saving lives, not me! People were opening their homes to complete strangers if they needed a safe place to be. This particularly blew me away after having lived most of my life in the city.

It seems that crises have a way of bringing out the very best in humanity – illuminations #3, 4, 5 & 6

Shortly afterward we were invited to a lavish Thanksgiving lunch hosted by a couple of local farmers, one of whom is American. This couple have established themselves as one of the pivotal centres of this small valley community. Their humble home was bursting with all the people our hosts are thankful they have in their lives. Our hosts have family members and friends who nearly, and those who did, lose their properties and their livelihoods to the fires. Guests brought food (that’s what country folk do) and I think all of us were genuinely filled with gratitude to be there after the events of the previous week.

That day we learned that one of the farms in our valley is doing it so tough that they may need to close. We know those particular farmers and see how they go to great lengths to provide us all with clean food, we know their entire farm is based on respect and nurturing – for animals, for soil, for community and for health. Mind blown #7 & 8.

I look around and amidst all this destruction now and between the blackened trees in the fire-fields there is fresh green grass beginning to peek through. My experiences over these last weeks have gifted me with a fresh perspective on the value of community and what gives life meaning

I know Christmas can be a tough time of year for many people. My end of year wish for you is that this coming holiday season gently feeds you with the warmth of connection to your community, whoever / whatever community is for you and that your home feels like – your home.

Healing is not just about our bodies, at times we need to address mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of ourselves. Healed people are happy people. Community is so important to healing and we know this intuitively, but modern research has also confirmed it. For example, studies have shown that many people are more successful with weight loss when they have social support.

I believe it is vital that we identify our passion, and that connecting with our passion is key to living a happy life and finding ‘your people’. To do this  you have to know how to signal your passions and interests and how to seek out theirs. These days many people search online initially via for example: Google, or scanning LinkedIn profiles and sending “Connect with Me” messages.  We connect with others through different styles of communities. Here for example, I will share my obsession for alliteration via the letter ‘P’ whilst simultaneously describing a few choice types of community:

1. Community Sharing A Common Practice

This type of group is united by a common activity. We find others with mutual interests, eg; yoga /pilates /gym classes, learning to speak Spanish, various hobbies & interests.

2. Community Of Providence

These are ‘random’ connections — like meeting a friend in primary school who introduces you to your future partner’s ex-husband who you end up setting up a successful business with 30yrs later and you share the same tattoo. These connections are not as random as they may appear.

3. Community Of Proximity

Who does what in your local community? Can you offer something which may be of benefit to others nearby? Facebook community pages, Buy Swap Sell sites, gardening clubs, taking your fur baby for walks in nearby doggy parks, swapping babysitting – this list is as endless as your imagination.

4. Community Of Shared Passion

This type of community is driven by a shared passionate interest in something. Maybe you have a real thing for Vampire Squids (vampyroteuthis infernalis). You might love to share images and stories about these obscure creatures on Facebook or Instagram, perhaps even construct a web page dedicated to these fascinating subjects & preventing their extinction or you may feel driven to start up a dedicated fan club in the little vamps honour. You will surely begin to encounter others who share & appreciate your quirks.

5. Community Of Purpose

Purposeful or ‘intentional’ communities are those that share a vision of the world.  For example Auroville in southern India. However these groups are often not geography dependent, an example of this might be spiritual or religious communities or shared mutual passion for environmental activism. Finding people with a common purpose means finding those who share a concrete commitment to a specific cause which may be one of the drivers of your life, and through this we can sometimes form some pretty solid connections.

Now go and have some fun.