Day 17 - You can choose your family

[Stephanie]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been really enjoying everyone’s wonderful Month of Celebration posts this year! It’s been really inspirational to see. I wanted to share a somewhat controversial and personal thought myself. Oftentimes, we’re told that family is the most important thing - I happen to believe that’s true.

If family is the most important thing then all my friends are my family, too. Wherever they are in the world: in life, in crisis, in love or in distress, whether you’ve not talked in days or not talked in years, there’s something very raw and very human about the bond we build with other human beings. For me that is something I class as family.

Jokingly or not, many times this year when I’ve chatted with some of you lovely people, whether here on the CC or on our Social zoom calls, I’ve heard familiarity, joy, connection and care. One of the things I loved hearing was how this group of wonderful people called themselves “the village.” The aunts and uncles of the CC that take care of each other and the “kids”. The kids being a metaphor for the new hosts that often cut their teeth here in the Community Center, with fear, nervousness, feelings of being overwhelmed, excitement and, sometimes, confusion.

For a Brit like myself it takes a lot to write something as cheesy, corny or cringy as this but… you choose your family, and I think we share one here.

Have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy the holiday season, CCer’s!

Thanks,

Steph

@Clara116 , @Cathie19 , @Christine615 , @Robin4 , @Lawrene0 , @Ann72 

[Loni56]

@Stephanie. parabéns! sim entendo que a família e a célula mais importante da humanidade,

cada vez que nos dedicarmos com amor a receber alguém em nossa casa e como parte de nossa família

isso para mim e muito gratificante 

fica a lembrança!

somos uma família airbnb !

[Clara116]

@Stephanie How wonderfully true your words are...

Many of us feel the same about our "buddies, the village, those that have etched a space in our hearts and minds and there's nothing like it! There's that feel of some how belonging that charges up the desire to have contact and make friends even from afar. 

Wishing all those in the village, my buddies.....Merry Christmas, happy holidays and much joy, peace and love.

You all matter more than you can ever imagine! Hugs, Clara

[Ann72]

@Stephanie  Absolutely love this.  You nailed it, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate the fact that you opened up your heart, especially as a Brit :), and shared these feelings with us.  Feelings that I 100% share. 

And by the way, thanks so much for making me cry at my desk.  🙂

[Lawrene0]

A Canadian watches in awe as a Brit makes a New Yorker cry!

A village indeed! With villagers in Pensacola, Kansas City, Sedgwick, Santa Catarina, Darwin, Mount Barker, London, Toronto...

Happy holidays, all!

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie  Nice post. One thing I love about participating in this forum and getting to virtually know many other hosts, is that I know who I'd want to book with if I ever travelled to their part of the world.

And apart from a family of hosts, there are many people who either are estranged from their biological families for one reason or another, or don't have any close relatives still alive, who create their own families as they go through life.

Kids join gangs, the homeless find friendship among other homeless,  looking for a sense of family. Humans are tribal by nature and almost everyone wants and needs to feel a part of something bigger than themselves.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

viliđ piple lav ju tu @Stephanie  😄

[Stephanie]

🎶🎵 It's sometimes fun to stay at the AB CC🎶🎵 @Branka-and-Silvia0  😉😉😉

[Patricia55]

@Stephanie  Lovely post, and I wish you all the best too 🙂 x

[Cathie19]

To you @Stephanie and all in this tribal and global village of ours, may I wish you all a very safe and merry Christmas.

To @Sarah977 , @Branka-and-Silvia0  @Lizzie and just too too many to name; continue to be true to yourselves, for your authenticity is what we love. 😍

A special mention to these particular  scallywags: this band of wonderful comrades, companions across the globe…. I’ll salute a glass to your health and family well-being, wherever you are…whatever you are doing. I feel a special book club coming on…. @Stephanie,  @Clara116 , @Christine615,  @Robin4 , @Lawrene0 , @Ann72 @Jessica-and-Henry0.

[Helen427]

Thanks @Stephanie ,

Wishing your new little family a wonderful first Christmas together... it's just the beginning for you with years ahead of sneaking in and peaking what Santa has stashed aside, Santa Sack where you hang them, milk and cookies or a tipple left out, the opening of Presents, Midnight Mass, and many other adventures.

May you also all venture to Hobbiton in the UK.. We have just had Hobbiton in the Waikato, New Zealand's 20th anniversary.

[Gina1662]

As a new "kid" I cant thank the village enough.  Joining this forum has been most helpful. "It takes a village" and I truly believe y'all have an amazing community here.  Wonderful post.  Thanks y'all for helping the new kid on the block.  Happy Holidays to all.

[Stephanie]

How lovely @Gina1662 ! Thank you so much and smashing holidays to you too! 

[Laurelle3]

Thank you @Stephanie for bringing the subject up of village people who participate on the community forum from around the world. This took me to find out what makes a village and I found an explanation by Graham Stuart (2016). Who descibes a community as people of " mixed ages, backgrounds, incomes and housing tenures.  People who know and trust each other and provide continuity.

I only joined this community of village people this year and when reading different topics they have provided sound advice, positiveness, encouragement and sometimes their thoughts on the directions of how Airbnb should be taking. 

I have enjoyed being part of this group of village people communicating from around the world. Merry Christmas to you all and may the New Year take us on a different path than one we have had to travel in 2020 and 2021. 

[Bonnie7]

Aloha/Hi to the "Village"!

My first post here and excited to get to know this awesome group of humans! I live in Hawaii and Arizona and am an Airbnb Ambassador and Super Host among a few other professions. Bottomline, I'm Bonnie.

Connecting here with the warmth, camaraderie and genuine vulnerability is refreshing!

Happy Holidays from the desert!