For me it is with running but I stumbled into it. When I started running I didn’t have much more that a few friends. I started running solo but none of my family or friends were interested. I thought it would be good to run with some other people and learn from them. I looked for a club or group and ended up picking a group that I have been running with for over 10 years. Now all of my closest friends are from the running community. I have a dozen or more people I could call that would gladly go out for a run or a casual hang.
My community consists of a mixture of people. My closest friends are people I met in high school that I have built a lifelong friendship with. This was the most difficult community that I had to navigate during recovery. For my first year in recovery I set some strong boundaries on when and where I would hang out with them. I was very uncomfortable being around people drinking or using, so I did not spend much time with them until my recovery was stronger.
The recovery community is another place where I have built strong friendships. This came about from forcing myself to get out and meet people in recovery. This came from support groups and different recovery events.
My community is a mix of work and providing support to women in recovery since I am in a recovery oriented position as a CDT so I can share my experience, strength, and hope with them and also with my friends I have through Church. They are always super supportive for me especially in my recovery and when I was in treatment.
