Tobin and I have been thinking a lot about community lately. About what community really is and means. Sometimes it seems that word can be thrown around, just to make you believe that whatever they are doing is good, because they believe in ‘community’. But we’ve been thinking about, and also seeing, what community is. For us, it has shown itself as support, friends reaching out for coffee or a conversation, or just checking in; knowing that there are people you could call to come help you move a piano, and they would show up; people who want to know you and who want to be a part of your life; people who go out of their way to be part of your journey, and people who support one another, in every sense; people who want to do good things, together.
We are delighted that you are a part of this community, a community that supports one another. Your intentionality to support and encourage local producers has a deep impact on their lives and I would guess that their hard work, dedication, and integrity to pursue their work has a significant impact on yours. That is the community that we have a privilege to be a part of and we are so appreciative to participate in it.
We had the opportunity last fall to travel to the Netherlands and spend some time with Tobin’s family. We stayed with his cousin and had a wonderful few days sharing life with them. We talked a lot about family and travel and they shared stories and memories with us. This cousin speaks Dutch as her first language and flawless English as her second. However, there is one word that she can never say in English, not because she can’t pronounce it, but because there isn’t an English word for it, it just doesn’t exist. This word is ‘gezellig’ (huh-zell-ikh). It means cozy, pleasant, sociable, or a warm feeling of conviviality. When she was sharing about a particularly sweet memory or a wonderful holiday they had, she would say ‘It was really…’ she would pause, breathe in, smile, then say, ‘gezellig’. This word conveyed the memory of a feeling. It wasn’t just a word that could be simply translated to English, gezellig is an experience.
I think that what we have been experiencing in our lives, but in this year in particular, is gezellig, we just never had a word for it. It’s far beyond community; it’s a feeling and an experience that permeates our hearts and minds and something that changes us. Something that makes us pause, smile, and remember. Our community is more than just that, it’s gezellig.
We are grateful to be entering this new year bringing with us the gezellig of last year and watching for more moments of it in the coming days. We hope that you experience many moments of gezellig this year and thank you for being an integral part of a vibrant, supportive, incredible community.
Sincerely, Emily