One of the things I love most in this world is watching people find their way into themselves. Watching someone take a chance, discover what they're capable of, find their voice, and take flight.
And where I can, I love being part of that. Planting a seed, offering encouragement (or aggressively watering it, tomato tomahto), opening a door, or helping create the conditions for someone to see something in themselves they hadn't quite seen before.
I've also been on the receiving end of that generosity so many times in my life. Mentors. Friends who reflect what they see in me that I don’t see for myself. People who have challenged me, believed in me, or simply reminded me of what was possible.
Perhaps my favourite thing of all is witnessing people recognize each other's light, cheer each other on, and understand that we really can rise together. Where we celebrate each other's wins, speak highly of one another when they're not in the room, and make space for someone new without wondering what their arrival might mean for us.
In a big way, that's what I've always wanted community to be. Not just a place where we feel we belong, but a place where we genuinely want to see each other thrive. Where we understand that we are all, in different ways and at different times, both the ones offering a hand and the ones reaching for one. These acts of generosity rarely end with the person receiving them. They ripple outward, often in ways we'll never get to witness.
For a long time, I thought about this as women uplifting women. And while that remains incredibly important to me, I want a world where we all do this for each other.
Where someone else's success doesn't immediately invite comparison. Where admiration isn't tangled up in insecurity. Where we can recognize another person's brilliance without questioning our own.
I don't think any of us are immune to envy. I'm certainly not (there’s a whole other essay on that). But it is important information - pointing us toward something we want for ourselves, something we value, something we haven't quite given ourselves permission to pursue.
When we get curious about those feelings rather than judging ourselves for having them, I've found there's an opportunity to let someone else's success inspire us rather than threaten us. And those people we admire? They are still becoming, too. None of us has arrived at some final version of ourselves, no matter how accomplished, confident, or seemingly certain we might appear.
So back to community, the ones I'm part of, the ones I help build, the ones I insert myself in when I have no business inserting myself in because I have no time (ahem, PTA) - they are the example I want to set for my son.
I want him to grow up knowing that he can be proud of himself and proud of someone else in the very same breath. That another person's gifts don't make his any less valuable. That there is room to admire, encourage, and celebrate people without needing to measure himself against them.
This is so much more than celebrating each other because it’s a nice thing to do. It includes the work of becoming - learning when to make space, when to step forward, when to cheer someone else on, and when to allow ourselves to be supported. I think it's part of how we create the kind of world we actually want to live in.
And how lucky am I to have people who help me find my wings, to sometimes help others find theirs, and to keep learning what it means to fly together?