Community is a word that has taken on great meaning for me during my lifetime. My life has been filled with a variety of communities, from the places I lived as a child to the many places I have lived after college and with my own little family. I’d like to think that I’m one of those people that could live anywhere. I find great joy and adventure in learning to love new places and meet new people. Since graduating from high school I’ve lived in Provo (Utah), Salt Lake City (Utah), Paris (France), Memphis (Tennessee), Yokohama (Japan), Tokyo (Japan), and most recently Southern California, not too far from where I spent the majority of my childhood. I have truly loved each place, with their differing ways of life, people, and languages. Moving on to each new place has always been something I’ve looked forward to—not that I wasn’t going to miss the place and loved ones I was leaving, but I was excited for my new adventure. A bit of that changed for me though when it came time to make our most recent move from Tokyo to Southern California. That was a very difficult move for me. For the first time I didn’t really want to move. I wanted to stay. I loved Tokyo, I loved my friends, and I loved my daily routine. During the two different times that I had lived in Japan, I had fallen deeply in love with the country, its people, language, customs, and food. I had met and become close to some incredible people that were just as excited about the adventure of living in Japan as I was. I also had given birth to my first child in Tokyo. That experience alone would account for the feeling that a piece of my heart will always belong in Japan. I remembering writing the post where I revealed to my readers that I would be moving and my feelings about it, and it still tugs at my heart.
As I think about life since we returned (almost 3 years, how is that possible?!?), I realize that an extraordinary thing has occurred. I’ve found a community that transcends cities, states, and countries. I’ve found a world community, the community of food, a community that never ceases to excite, comfort, and challenge me to become better than I am. If it weren’t for that move, I don’t know how long it might have taken me to find this place that is so perfect for me in the world. During our first year back in the US, my website slowly transformed from being a place where I wrote about life and Japan, to being a place where I wrote about food. Once the transition was complete I slowly gained confidence and started sharing my own ideas and recipes, and found that people didn’t laugh and sometimes actually tried my recipes and even liked them. Cooking and eating, things I had always loved doing, where now things that I could share with anyone else who was interested. In addition, I found that it also brought me closer to Japan, as I was able to share my love for Japanese cuisine, and even start to educate others about its rich history. I’ve also realized that some of my opinions have changed during this time. One of the results of thinking, writing, and working with food all the time is that you start to form strong opinions about things you might have never even considered before, like the places and methods used to bring your food from “out there” into your home.
So why this pontification on community, and the food community specifically? This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend Camp Blogaway again. I’d had such a wonderful experience last year and then again last fall at the day camp, that I was thrilled when the California Table Grape Commission offered to sponsor my way to this year’s camp.
Patti Londres, the force of nature behind Camp Blogaway, did a spectacular job as usual of bringing in fabulous speakers and workshops for the attendees. The entire weekend was filled with fun, but that’s not what I’m going to share with you. If you’re interested, Patti has a growing list of camp posts on the Camp Blogaway site. What I’m going to share is my own lightbulb moment. The moment at camp where a host of thoughts and experiences were all pulled together and a piece of life made a bit more sense. The last thing that happens at Camp Blogaway during the closing ceremonies is the announcement of the Golden Pinecone award, an award given to honor the blogger who best exemplifies the spirit of Camp Blogaway over the course of the weekend. This year the award was given to Andrew Wilder (Eating Rules).
After he had his pinecone in hand, the rowdy crowd began shouting “Speech! Speech! Speech!” Andrew, being the sweet obliging guy that he is, satisfied the demands of the crowd and began to say thank you. However, there seemed to be a moment where a thought flickered in his mind, because the expression on his face changed, and he told us about his previous career, and how he had loved the community that he felt he was a part of in that career. He then talked about how Camp Blogaway was the first time he had felt that sense of community and belonging since leaving his previous career. It was a poignant moment, not only because of the sincerity with which Andrew spoke and how choked up many in the room got, but because I think many of us found ourselves wanting to raise our hands and say, “Me too! Me too!!” Andrew had managed to distill the essence of what the food community can be into a few sentences. In the end Camp Blogaway is a small representation of the world food community. The diversity in age, ethnicity, point of view, and a whole list of other characteristics was astounding. For the most part, the thing that everyone at camp had in common was our love for food. Yet despite all of our differences there was never a lack of conversation and friendship.
As Andrew’s words have run through my mind over and over again, I’ve realized how much this huge community of food has changed my life and the way I live it. Sometimes we have a tendency to look around us and be critical, thinking there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things. I’m the first to admit that I’ve had moments where I was sure that I was right about something, and someone has quietly come along that has made me completely change my opinion. I’ve come to realize that no matter how strongly I feel about something, I have to respect and celebrate the diversity in this crazy world. I’m grateful that I’m the only person exactly like me. It would be a pretty boring and annoying world to have millions of Rachael Fuji Mamas walking around. I watched with admiration and appreciation at camp on several occasions when people gracefully shared opinions while maintaining respect for the fact that there would be others around them that might disagree, and that this was okay. I’ve walked away from this weekend with a deep sense of gratitude for the many people around the world that bravely share of themselves, whether or not it’s thoughts I would agree with or food I would eat. I’ve realized that although I still miss my beloved Japan, I have an equally rich community that I belong to, and I don’t have to get on a plane to visit this community. Like a turtle that carries its home with him wherever he goes, I have found that I carry my community in my heart and find fellow community members wherever I go. To those of you around the world who I already know, thank you for being you and for inspiring me. To those of you who I have yet to discover, I can’t wait to meet you!
A big thank you to Patti and all of her work in putting together such a wonderful weekend. Thank you to Andrew for making us all laugh and then making us cry. And finally, thank you to the California Table Grape Commission for making the weekend possible. I can’t wait to get my grape on as soon as grape season starts!
{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
I <3 this community too! and of course LURVE you and your genuine self! xoxo
Great post. You’ve expressed what so many of us feel. I wasn’t able to make it to Camp Blogaway, but felt this sense of community after joining Twitter and then attending BlogHerFood last year. I’ve been searching for a community for a while (long story about career and SAHM life) and am just intoxicated with how much I can learn and share even when I can’t leave my house all day! And I had the great pleasure of meeting Andrew at BlogHerFood last year and am not at all surprised he won the PineCone award. How perfect.
Hope to get a chance to meet you sometime soon in the Twitterverse or in person.
@OMG! Yummy (Beth), Thanks Beth! I hope to get to meet you too!
I have absolutely no idea what to say, but I simply HAD to leave a comment on this magnificent reflection. Thank you for making this weekend so incredibly special; I feel beyond privileged to have you as a friend.
Now if ya’ll wonderful ladies would please stop making me cry, I’d really appreciate it.
@Andrew @ Eating Rules, Now where would the fun in that be? ;)
Rachel,
Lovely post, and so touching. Glad you’ve found your community.
@Laurie Iseman, Thanks laurie. :)
It was a weekend full of great moments, you really put into words what I think most were feeling. You are such a wonderful and sweet friend. I look forward growing in this wonderful community with you :)
@Diane {Created by Diane}, I can’t tell you enough how grateful I am for you and your friendship! You are an example of why this community of ours is so spectacular!!
I must have a pair of those earrings! Hot!
@averagebetty, I bet I could arrange that for you . . . I know people . . . :)
beautifully written…we all need community in our lives, and i’m so thankful for the blogging community that reaches out and loves, comforts, and finds joy in friendship with strangers. strangers who, as it always turns out, don’t stay strangers for very long but rather become some of the dearest of friends! love it!
@Heather (Heather’s Dish), Thank you! Hopefully I get to meet YOU in real life sometime soon! :)
A beautiful, touching post. The weekend was truly memorable and it was such a pleasure getting to know everyone and spending more time with the wonderfully funny, and sweet Fujimama.
@Jennifer, So glad you got to be there!!
Good heavens, you could be my child and our sentiments are yet so in accord. Awash in tears and so grateful for new friends. You are one incredible writer, dear FM/R.
@LiztheChef, Aaaw, thank you! You just made my day!!
You give me reasons again and again to want to hug you, and squeeze you, and call you George (and do not tell me you have never seen the Bugs Bunny and Yeti cartoon!)
Wonderfully written and right to the point. I am glad I am not the only sappy, melodramatic, hopeless romantic out there:)
Looking forward to experiencing more of life with you and so many other amazing people out there!
@Lana, Although I LOVE this comment, I think I’m most excited about the George part . . . :) XOXOXO
I don’t what to say, but ‘I love you’ feels about right. GREG
@sippitysup, Love you back my friend! I’m so grateful to count you as part of my community!
You summed it all up right there! I haven’t been to any yet, but I have Eat, Write, Retreat & Big Summer Potluck on my agenda this year and can’t wait. But this post has got me even more excited:)
@Ethan, You are going to LOVE those events! Can’t wait to read YOUR posts about them! :)
Ditto, and bravo, and thank you for expressing all of those thoughts so well. It was a real honor and a pleasure to meet you this weekend and I hope our paths cross again soon.
Cheers from a fellow “turtle” –
Jeanne
p.s. Lovely milk mustaches on all of us, I must say… : )
@Jeanne @JollyTomato, We are definitely hot turtles with milk mustaches. Fo sho.
I think if I tell you how much I adore you one more time it will get weird (but I really dooooo.) It was so fun talking til 2:30 in the morning in the cabin with you and Dara. I am so blessed to be in your community {{{sniff sniff}}}. Those earrings are grape :D
@Cathy/ShowFoodChef, Nope, it won’t get weird, because I’ll automatically respond with, “But I adore you more!!” :)
Generous thoughts. And I think that laughing girl is Bacon sizzle HOT!
@Melissa {The Fresh 20}, Oh no, she’s HOTTER than sizzling bacon!! :)
the one thing i missed most about not being in town to attend was not being able to spend time WITH YOU!! I’m glad that there aren’t a million rachael’s around too – it makes knowing you so much more precious!! […and i can’t believe that you didn’t keep cathy up alllll night chit chatting away! :) ] Love you! MUWAH!
@jenjenk, Cathy’s just being nice…mwahahahahahaha!
Fun post. I love online food community as such that brings like-minded closer in one venue to network and actually meet people behind the scenes.
@Kiran @ KiranTarun.com, Thanks Kiran!
Such a lovely post that rings true in my heart. You are one special person!!
@LiztheChef, XOXO my friend!
What a nice post. You did a wonderful job of expressing what a lot of us felt about the weekend. It was great meeting you.
@Cathy @ What Would Cathy Eat?, It was so nice to meet you too Cathy!
Beautiful post. You’ve managed to say exactly what I’ve been feeling!
Sooo happy to have gotten to know you over the past year. Don’t be a stranger – the RGB… and our future chickens, are only a 30-minute drive away!!!
[K]
@Kim, You had me at chickens. ;)
Although I wasn’t at camp blog away, Ive been to steamy kitchen’s seminar last year & also Stir it 28 & some FBLA events. I couldn’t agree with you more. It’s our love for food that binds us together but I’ve also experienced warmth and passion from each foodie I met. Just reading this post made me all warm and fuzzy
@Bianca @south bay rants n raves, Yay for warm fuzzies! :)
Does that make me part of your community?! Wonderful post. I never attended these kinds of events and I was, too, was moved by everyone’s generosity and genuineness. And, I think that picture is going to haunt me for the rest of my life!
@Laura @ Family Spice, LOL, I LOVE that picture!! And yes, you are DEFINITELY a part of my community! It wouldn’t be complete without ya! XOXO
HI honey! I was thrilled to be able to have spent some time with you connecting at Camp Blogaway and hope we continue to connect and support each other. Love you tons!
I loved reading this post and “meeting” you. I live here in Southern California too (Orange County) and really wanted to go to Camp Blogaway this year, but the dates didn’t work for me this year. I have really been wanting to meet some local bloggers and hope to meet you and some others sometime soon. Love your site and I look forward to reading more.
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