Recently the importance of living in a community has become increasingly evident to me. Whether it's celebrating our successes, dealing with disappointments, grieving loss, or coping with doubts, it's better when we walk through it together. Our generation is simultaneously the most and least connected. We have the ability to communicate with people on the other side of the world, but we neglect to talk with the person waiting in line behind us.

There is something beautiful about having a friend who knows the core of who you are. One of the things that can be easily seen in the beginning of college is the excitement of finding new friends who get to experience all of the new things with you. However, sometimes it's scary to realize that your actions in this short time have shaped people's perceptions of you, rather than them knowing the transformation over the years, knowing the depth of your personality.

One area this especially comes into play is in our religious experiences. Faith is an intensely personal matter, but personal doesn't necessarily mean private. The things that are most personal are often kept to ourselves but have the greatest possibility to impact others. This isn't to say that we have to share everything with everyone, but that a level of openness about faith is beneficial for growth as a community. When we share doubts we are able to reassure each other that it is okay to not be sure.

Friendship is often built on the realization that we have something in common, that the other person is able to connect with something inside of us. The ability to say "me too" is something that connects us and comforts our insecurities. One of the most difficult things is to feel like no one understands, or to know that you cannot understand someone else who desperately needs to feel understood. Friendship is about borrowing someone's eyes for a bit to see and understand their world. As we better begin to understand how they see life around them, we see who they are.

Silos are buildings for storing and fermenting feed for livestock. They need to be airtight, preventing the feed from spoiling, which means they are often constructed as a separate building from the rest of a farm. Fermenting livestock feed is great, but humans aren't meant to let our feelings and experiences ferment. When we act like silos by isolating ourselves and sealing off all contact with the outside world, we let our lives ferment. Let's embrace each opportunity to know people and be known, linking ourselves together rather than standing alone as a silo.