Alaska Hosts the PNWD

You may have noticed I haven’t posted anything here in a while.  For the last six weeks or so life was just too overwhelming and busy.  As a sanity-saving measure I did not make time to write.  I didn’t even make much time for the introspection necessary to write something interesting.  Getting through one task after another without falling apart was the big goal – anything else was gravy.  I don’t think I will write about all of it, because most of it is banal and boring to anyone not living it.  You lucky readers will get just the highlights.

One of the things taking up my attention lately was the Pacific Northwest District Assembly, held in Anchorage last weekend.  Alaska has never had the honor to host anything UU-specific like this.  Knowing that we may not get to host it again, we pulled out all the stops.  Since this was the 50^th anniversary of the PNWD, the theme was a birthday celebration. The event went really well, but it was a lot of work.  If any of you came up for this event, thanks for coming and I hope you had a great time.

Talking to people, the PNWD was eye-opening for many Alaskan UUs.  Due to the logistics and costs involved, most of us don’t get to interact with other UU churches very often.  This isolation can lead to people being fairly uninterested in the UUA and the larger movement.  I hope that the interest piqued in many Alaskans about expanding our vision beyond our own churches continues and grows.

I have never been much of a joiner.  While it might be very nice to believe that I have such a charismatic personality that people are just dying to get to know me, the truth is it is very easy to attend and even join a church, and stay a stranger to most.  “Oh yes, I’ve met so-and-so” is not the same thing as a personal relationship. There is no doubt that I over-extended myself this spring, but I am finding that the best way to get to know  people is to get involved and do some work.  This is probably not a news flash to you, but it is progress for me.  I appreciate getting to know some our local members better.  Now I just need to figure out how to schedule increased involvement with times when my personal life is not blowing up.  Here’s to finding a balance between staying an outsider, and biting off more than you can chew!