TheTableRDU
Triangle / RDU: The location of our community members
Community Calendar: Lists the upcoming gatherings members have planned
Group chats: The place where women can connect and converse with one another
Zip codes: The manner in which group chats are organized so members can easily connect with women who live near them.
Life Circumstances: Separate support groups exist for women going through shared experiences (separation/divorce, grief, etc.).
Goodwill: Many women in our community like providing a helping hand and seek opportunities to do so
Hospitality: A practice many of us enjoy or seek to grow in, welcoming others into our home for conversation, a drink or bite to eat
You: A unique female who is welcome to our fold, a community of caring and creative women
Importance of the Table
Our community and its name is rooted in the significance and love that can be found around every kitchen table.
“…there is no better way to get out the kinks in the human spirit, or heal the rifts in a family, or unwind the twists in the
order of the universe, than to bring on the table.”
–Leonard Sweet, “From Tablet to Table”
“When we haven’t the time to listen to each other’s stories, we seek out
experts to tell us how to live. The less time we spend together at the kitchen table, the more how-to books appear in the stores and on our bookshelves. But reading such books is about a very different thing than listening to someone’s lived experience. Because we have stopped listening to each other we may even have forgotten how to listen. Thus we may have stopped learning how to recognize meaning and how to fill ourselves from the ordinary events of our lives. We have become solitary: readers and watchers rather than sharers and participants.”
–Rachel Naomi Remen, MD
“Wonderful things unfold when we share pieces of ourselves and a place at our table.”
-Renee Smith, TheTableRDU
New Friendships
A Better Friend-Making Experience
Seek ladies who live near you (i.e. same zip code or <7 miles away)
After connecting on-line, meet in-person within 2 weeks.
Make your meeting a group event (3-4 ladies).
Have a predetermined start and end time.
Employ 1 meaningful activity. See examples here.
Have a second event within 2 weeks of the first.
For friendship to happen someone has to be brave.
So be brave.
Author of Platonic, Dr. Marisa G. Franco, quoting her niece