The Beauty of Community

“One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn’t as individuals. When we pool our strength and share the work and responsibility, we can welcome many people, even those in deep distress, and perhaps help them find self-confidence and inner healing.” ― Jean Vanier, Community and Growth

I spent more than half my life in public service working for a leisure organization. Within leisure spaces, whether they are swimming pools, public parks, campgrounds, or community centers, my job centered around providing recreation programs for people. Inevitably, these opportunities enabled participants of all ages to build communities on summer swim teams, in water aerobics classes, and in pre-school programs.

The same is true for our blogging community. I have read many excellent posts about “how to get more followers to your blog,” or “Six ways to Build Your Audience,” etc. Other bloggers sharing this information know that to accomplish these goals, you (and I) need to read others’ blogs, like and follow!

The following bloggers offer and host blogging events to help you grow your blog:

One blogger whom I now consider a friend, Janet Wald, offers excellent advice on her blog, Reflections. Read her recap that includes a linky party and blogging tips.

Suzie, of Suzie81speaks is hosting a blog party this weekend, where bloggers can share their favorite post in her blog’s comments section. Suzie also will retweet your post on Twitter.

Jason, the Opinionated Man, does the same thing on Harsh Reality, potentially sharing your blog with 50,000+ followers. Watch for his blog announcing these events.

If you favor photography over writing, link your photos and posts to another blogger I call a friend: Lucile DeGodoy’s Photo101 Rehab event.

Last but not least, is another gracious blogger, Ronovan Write’s, who encourages bloggers to write about something positive and uplifting for BeWOW Wednesday. He will retweet your post using #BeWow hashtag which puts your blog out in the Twitterverse to attract more readers.

Please check out Diana’s Adventures’ blog as she shares a recent post “Tips for New Bloggers.”  I’m bookmarking this one myself!! These bloggers, and countless others, know how to build community. They will faithfully read your blog, comment on, and like your posts. These tasks are invaluable to us as bloggers to feel the community’s appreciation of a well-written post or beautiful photograph.This is also my post for BeWOW Wednesday.

I am also participating in April’s Ultimate Blog Challenge, another community opportunity on Facebook. I have found and followed several new bloggers there.

I am participating in Writing 101 this month. Not only am I working on my skills as a writer, but I am part of a new community of bloggers who want to do the same. By being part of “The Commons” where we can share our latest posts, we can get to know brand new bloggers who are just starting out. If you are a seasoned blogger (and I feel I can call myself that now), we help build community by reading, liking and following these new bloggers.

After all, we are a community of writers, photographers, hobbyists, friends, colleagues…the list is endless.

And that is the Beauty of Community!

I would appreciate it if you could share this post if you found it helpful!