Community Is Everything
Second Act Sundays is a quiet corner of the week — a moment to pause, reflect, and reconnect with yourself.
Each Sunday, subscribers receive a short, gently challenging email designed to support your journey into what’s next. Whether you’re mid-pivot, post-burnout, or just feeling a subtle pull toward something more, this series is here to offer grounded guidance without the fluff.
Every edition includes:
A short, personal letter — something I’m thinking about, noticing, or grappling with
A reflective journal prompt — not a to-do list item, but an invitation inward
A gentle weekly practice — small enough to fit into your life, powerful enough to shift something
You won’t find hacks, hustle, or 10-step plans here. Just honest reflections and grounded nudges toward a second act that feels truly yours.
Because midlife isn’t the beginning of the end, it’s the end of pretending.
And what comes next might just be your most meaningful chapter yet.
Second Act Sundays #19
I was invited this week to join a small committee looking at how our parish can become a better place for older people. I don’t live there anymore, but I am back often enough that the place still feels like a core part of me. So I showed up.
Around the table were a few familiar faces I have known most of my life, along with a a few people who were not from the parish at all. Different lives, different reasons for being there, but all of us giving our time for something that will mostly benefit other people.
That was the part that stayed with me.
Community is not, necessarily, just a place on a map.
It is the act of showing up in service of something bigger than yourself.
And the more I thought about it, the more I realised I see the same thing in the online communities I am part of. People who may never meet in person still turning up to support one another, share experience, offer encouragement, and do it without expecting anything back. The setting is different, but the spirit is exactly the same. A shared sense of “we’re in this together.”
Whether it is a parish hall or a Zoom window, the feeling is familiar.
Community grows wherever people decide to contribute.
It is held up by ordinary acts of service, often quiet and unnoticed, but powerful all the same.
Being in that meeting reminded me that you do not need to live in a place to belong to it. And you do not need to meet people in person to be part of something meaningful with them. What matters is the choice to show up. The willingness to play your part. The understanding that life works better when we do not live it entirely on our own.
This week’s journal prompt
Think about a time when you were part of something that only worked because people showed up for one another. What did being part of that reveal to you about the kind of community you want in your life.
This week’s gentle practice
Reach out to one group or community you are part of, online or offline, and offer a simple contribution. It could be sharing a resource, giving encouragement, or volunteering a small piece of time. Notice how it feels to take part rather than stand back.