Recently, on my dawn bike ride through the grounds of Newstead Abbey to the Mansfield and Ashfield 2020 Business Breakfast I felt ridiculously happy. It welled up in me as I pedaled. By the time I arrived at the venue, Portland College, I was high as a kite.

Reflecting on it later, I see there were various factors that could’ve contributed to this uncommon happiness:

The childlike exhilaration of whizzing through long puddles, legs out.

Seeing a skyful of twinkly stars as I left home in the dark.

The same sky rosy and brightening behind trees and the rolling landscape I love.

The satisfaction of getting there by bike, under my own steam.

The yoga I’d done before leaving home.

The satisfaction of generally living life on my own terms, doing what pleases me, when it suits me.

While all the above contributed to my delight, I realised the aspect making me particularly giddy that morning was community.

In the previous 24 hours I’d had cause to appreciate several of the communities I belong to; the online Ekhart Yoga community, friends and neighbours in my village, St Mary’s Church in Newstead, and the business community of Mansfield and Ashfield 2020.

In each case, I feel part of the community. I contribute. I am seen and valued. Support is there for me when I need it. I can be myself.

In each case I started showing up as a newcomer a few years ago and gradually, bit by bit, I’ve grown into each of these communities.

There’s plenty of data evidencing the importance for us humans to feel a sense of belonging. I’ve read plenty of it.

This empirical evidence caught my attention more strongly though. There’s nothing quite like feeling connected with a tribe, or tribes, you relate to and care about, perhaps share a common purpose with, to get those feel-good hormones sloshing around your system.

As a high-flying client who is in a new chapter put it about her experience of singing with her choir,

“It was the sort of joy that had nothing to do with status or achievement. Just pure unadulterated delight.”

What’s your experience of community? I’d love to hear.

Last week, Tom Heap and the BBC film crew came to spend time with our community for the filming of a Secret Kitchen social eating event in the village I live in.

He remarked, “You’ve got something very special here.”

He’s right. We have. We cultivate it deliberately.

If you are interested to see a snippet of it, watch Countryfile at 7pm on BBC 2, Sunday 18th December.

If you are over-committed in work, feel like you’re constantly running and burning out and would instead like more ridiculously happy moments in your life, maybe even a greater sense of connection and community, book a no-obligation chat.

Together, we can explore how you could achieve that with my support.

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