community requires effort

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, a 19 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

this publication is a place for me to reflect on productivity, health and tech, and drop unique opportunities in the space right to your inbox daily. if you’re new here, sign up to tune in!💌

scroll to the end for my daily roundup on unique opportunities!

onto today’s topic: community requires effort 🫂 

i’m all for prioritizing ourselves and our personal well-being; however, we can’t expect to build a community and village if our attitude towards everything is, “i don’t owe anyone anything.”

if you wish for relationships, community, friends, mentors, you do indeed owe them your respect, effort, time, and care. the same way we don’t wish to be at others’ beck and call, people don’t want to be at ours. we need to loosen this mindset and realize human connection is a two-way street and sometimes people make mistakes. 🤷‍♀️ 

you don’t need to keep tabs on the favours you’ve dished out and hold that pending repayment as a grudge against another human being. choose kindness, and build your community.

allow others the grace and care you would also want to receive. of course, you should still practice your own self-respect and avoid being taken advantage of. it’s a tricky, but necessary, balance to strike.

community isn’t suddenly finding a magic key to your perfect oasis — it requires showing up, extending warmth, and carrying someone else’s weight for a little when their own becomes too much to bear. 🪨 

we’ve grown selfish. yet, we expect community.

the math isn’t math-ing, is it?

isolation is often an active choice. you push away your relationships and spread your community thin when you cancel on others last minute, venmo request $0.30 for a bite out of a cookie, or decline a panicked friend’s call in favour of watching a show. those moments where “you put yourself first” actually just serve to push others away.

you can prioritize yourself and still care for others. they aren’t mutually exclusive. 🪷 

daily opportunity + resource drops 🔍️