Some rambling thoughts on being a Servant of All right now...we will be having a pause, it won’t make our lives any less busy in terms of RL activities and obligations...but it still feels like mentally taking a breath, to me. So I wanted to ask people to take a minute to stop and think, how can we serve others this month and through any holidays?
1) Being a Servant of All – off the site – probably many of you are already doing things...I don’t know what Discord will look like and if the Servant of All channel will be active but we can talk SOMEWHERE about how you might be serving others...and if you aren’t doing so yet, consider taking a moment to think about what you can do. Of course there are plenty of opportunities for donations, gifts, drives for food/coats/toys etc...you could also notice any small opportunities to impact people directly – send an unexpected note of thanks, help someone carry something, sit with someone grieving during the holidays, spread some cheer in whatever way you can... well, the possibilities are infinite. So do something. (then feel free to talk about it, for inspiration...sometimes servants are too humble to talk about what they do, and they’re not doing it for the reward. but someone else might hear about it and say oh, I can do that! or, that’s a good idea, I didn’t think of that!)
2) Being a Servant of All – on the site – I realize that not everyone is here on the site because of the idea of being a Servant of All (although if you’re reading this in the SoA forum then you probably have some interest in it...) I almost started writing this section differently and for elsewhere on the site for more visibility..but .I’m leaving it here and I just want to ask people to think about, how can you be a Servant of All to other people right here on the site? What does that mean to you? I was thinking of this particularly in light of recent community discussions...sometimes the easy or instinctive thing is to get defensive, to lash out, to snark, to dig in and get more vehement to prove someone else wrong...I would suggest that serving each other might include better listening, apologizing if you fly off the handle, accepting that others can have different perspectives...I’m sure there is more that could be said if we could have a conversation about it...I know many people care deeply about the site, and the site IS people...so taking some care for the people in it helps build up the site. Apart from serious discussions, what about reaching out to a friend you haven’t talked to in awhile? doing something completely silly and having fun with others? Personally, I think giving good book recommendations is totally an act of service, haha.
3) Joining the Servant of All Team – of course you could always volunteer...if you would be willing to help out whether in big or small ways, feel free to message me on Discord or email me outreach@tarvalon.net and remember that the team is always hiring. I hope we can regroup and do some planning for the next year so if you have ideas, let me know, even if you don’t want to be an official member of the team.
Meanwhile, go be excellent to one another.
1) Being a Servant of All – off the site – probably many of you are already doing things...I don’t know what Discord will look like and if the Servant of All channel will be active but we can talk SOMEWHERE about how you might be serving others...and if you aren’t doing so yet, consider taking a moment to think about what you can do. Of course there are plenty of opportunities for donations, gifts, drives for food/coats/toys etc...you could also notice any small opportunities to impact people directly – send an unexpected note of thanks, help someone carry something, sit with someone grieving during the holidays, spread some cheer in whatever way you can... well, the possibilities are infinite. So do something. (then feel free to talk about it, for inspiration...sometimes servants are too humble to talk about what they do, and they’re not doing it for the reward. but someone else might hear about it and say oh, I can do that! or, that’s a good idea, I didn’t think of that!)
2) Being a Servant of All – on the site – I realize that not everyone is here on the site because of the idea of being a Servant of All (although if you’re reading this in the SoA forum then you probably have some interest in it...) I almost started writing this section differently and for elsewhere on the site for more visibility..but .I’m leaving it here and I just want to ask people to think about, how can you be a Servant of All to other people right here on the site? What does that mean to you? I was thinking of this particularly in light of recent community discussions...sometimes the easy or instinctive thing is to get defensive, to lash out, to snark, to dig in and get more vehement to prove someone else wrong...I would suggest that serving each other might include better listening, apologizing if you fly off the handle, accepting that others can have different perspectives...I’m sure there is more that could be said if we could have a conversation about it...I know many people care deeply about the site, and the site IS people...so taking some care for the people in it helps build up the site. Apart from serious discussions, what about reaching out to a friend you haven’t talked to in awhile? doing something completely silly and having fun with others? Personally, I think giving good book recommendations is totally an act of service, haha.
3) Joining the Servant of All Team – of course you could always volunteer...if you would be willing to help out whether in big or small ways, feel free to message me on Discord or email me outreach@tarvalon.net and remember that the team is always hiring. I hope we can regroup and do some planning for the next year so if you have ideas, let me know, even if you don’t want to be an official member of the team.
Meanwhile, go be excellent to one another.