Our “unadvertised” highest calling

Lauren Cook, Founder

Amidst all the challenges our sweet old world is facing, I feel immense gratitude that our family was able to explore Europe this summer. During our travels, I felt many shared moments of connection–with nature, our own reflections, and the wonderful people around us.

Upon returning, I described some of these moments of connection in community to the Connecting Our Stories (COS) team and Charlotte said, “you know that’s not an accident. It happened because that’s what you do. It’s who you are.”

At Connecting Our Stories, we talk a lot about community. Mostly, we talk about creating a sense of community, or the feeling of connection in community. To us, community is less about a collection of people who share similar interests, characteristics, or geography (the dictionary definition). It’s more about what happens among us when we open up, share ourselves, and yes, connect our stories :)

Community happens when someone says or does something and we think, “yes, I get that, I feel that, or I am with you in that, right here and right now.” It can happen with a gesture as simple as a laugh, a nod, or an “amen, sister” (if you grew up like me). And it doesn’t even mean we’re similar people or we agree on everything. It means, in this time and place, we’re connected. We’re sharing this space together in community.

Why is this important? Because feeling this sense of community is the jumping off point for so many amazing things. From here . . .

we can create

we can build

we can dream

we can discover.

From here, we can be ourselves, open up even more, and work collectively for what we believe in and what the world needs. These last ideas should sound more familiar to the nonprofit communications world, aka what we say we “do” in an elevator pitch and on the Connecting Our Stories (COS) website.

Supporting organizations in discovering and connecting their stories to their audiences is what we advertise. It is our craft.

But the truth is building connection in community is our highest calling and what we do best. (And it is not an AI-transferrable skill, by the way.)

When we start here–providing a trusting environment to create connection in community–we’re giving our clients, colleagues, and anyone who needs it the chance to thrive. To create, build, dream, and discover. To show up authentically and work collectively for what they believe in and what the world needs.

So as we look forward to the second half of 2025 and beyond, we’re wondering which organizations and colleagues need to experience connection in community?

How can we support them as they jump off to . . .

create,

build,

dream,

and discover?

And what will they accomplish when they do?

We can’t wait to find out.