Post by Melissa Hudson-Gant

UNC Chappel Hill's commencement speaker this year was Eric Church. And though he's not in my genre, his message struck a chord (pun always intended, and listen to the message Duke fans 😉 ). "Resist the pull to perform for everyone and belong to no one. Be globally visible and locally invisible. Have 1000's of followers and no one actually knows where you live. Resist. Plant yourself somewhere. Put down roots with the full intention of growing there. Learn the actual names, not user names, of the people around you. Volunteer. Coach the team. Build the thing your community needs, even if the internet will never see it. Generosity is not something you do after you make it, it's how you make it." Knowing people, building relationships, investing in each other, and your community. That's the magic sauce of life, and what I see everyone hungry for. Real connection. I recently spent time with a friend who lost a loved one, noting that the community supporting them through the loss was built intentionally, and over their lifetime. We reap what we sow. May the roots we plant in each other yield stunning flowers for generations to come.