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Connectedness

 

What an amazing experience at KK today!  Our theme was Connectedness: What does connection mean to you?
 
I have never had so many guests ask to sit at the community table.  I usually have to ask but this time it seemed to be a standing request.  Guests were making friends with each other outside of the space before they were even seated.  As a result the space expanded to include the sidewalk. Veterans who usually stay to themselves were open to offer explanations about KK to those who have never been.  Two couples that had never met before, met outside and ended up sitting and eating together.  They came to me to say that they are now a party of four.  This Sunday, our community tables were the ones that maintained the bottleneck.  
 
There was a girl under 10 who conveyed the message of KK to me!  By the end of her interpretation, she had an audience.  One of the guys who had come up earlier to me and proclaimed his interest in sitting by himself, afterward said he would be open to a community table.  There were none and I ended up seating him at a two-person table by himself and he let me know that if there was another person by themselves, they could join him.
 
Seems like the theme had its own energy.
 
We had a lot of newbies and third timers.  WIth that, we served 115 people and everyone had stories to tell.  One of the guests tagged the volunteer with a bracelet the guest used to use for meditation.  The guest explained there were a pile of blessing with that bracelet.  Another guest offered to help bus the tables.  The same young girl who offered the eloquent explanation of KK, asks a volunteer if she, the girl, could come and volunteer.  Another guest included another volunteer in the table total; 4 sitting at the table but they considered themselves 5 people..they felt really connected to the volunteer!  
 
Some of the notes written about the theme of the day are as follows:
  • "Connection is community - taking care of each other"
  • "The highest function of ecology is the understanding of consequences  - F. Herbert"
  • "Connection is a sense of unity between certain individuals"
We entered as strangers and left as friends.  KK will remain in your heart forever whether you return or not.  For those who will return, you may volunteer with some of the same people but it will never be the same exact people, in the same space, with the same moments.  I hope you experienced each moment of our time together and I look forward to volunteering with you all in the future!

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--MJ on Oct 25, 2011




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