How to Rock Someone’s Hoop World in 60 Seconds or Less

[This week Hooping.org columnist Lara Eastburn reminds us to share the love.]

by Lara Eastburn

Every single one of us contributes to the hooping community in some way or another. But whether you participate in ways large, small, or in-between, we’ve all been known to grow discouraged at times. Would anyone care if I didn’t organize this hoop jam every week? Does anyone appreciate the extra time I put into the playlist for my classes? Where is the support for my new hooping event? Why did no one comment on my photo? Does anybody watch the hooping tutorials and videos I make? Does anyone even read my postings? Yikes!

Nobody jumps headfirst into the hooping community expecting to be praised for their efforts. Hoopers give their time for the same reasons that they hoop – it’s changing the way we approach our lives. We want to share it with others. We want to be of service to one another. That said, encouragement from the community is ultimately what keeps folks giving what they do. And encouraging one another is something each of us can and should do with one another. Because our larger community enjoys a limitless online existence, that’s something we can accomplish pretty easily, so here’s how to rock someone’s hoop world in 60 seconds or less every day.

Here are the uber-pertinent and closing thoughts from one of the best articles to appear on Hooping.org, Philo Hagen’s December column, “For the Joy of Hooping All Year Round:”

“On hooping.org and elsewhere it only takes a fraction of a second to ‘like’ something. It costs you nothing to do so. It only takes a minute to leave a comment and someone is really going to appreciate the minute that you spent thinking of them. Every photo, every video, every hooping news story is attached to a hooper, or two, or three. Why practice random acts of love and kindness when we can practice deliberate ones daily, right where we are? We all find the joy of hooping when we start, but we all need a hoop hug from our peers from time to time to keep us in the spin.”

I can’t make the point more clearly than Philo does here, but that won’t stop me from underlining it and urging all of us to make it a habit. Nay, even to make it a part of our hoop practice. To simply make it a part of our hooping culture. We can only strengthen our hooping community by demonstrating our appreciation for one another. In fact, I’m pretty eager to see what kind of new life we can breathe into all of our lives just by giving voice to our appreciation.

If you’re one of those hoopers who is feeling discouraged today, the fastest way to wrench yourself out of that rut is by taking a moment to give someone else the pat on the back you need yourself! Nobody knows better than we that it all comes full circle. Where did this particular circle begin?

As I was gearing up to write this column I asked my six-year-old daughter Navi what she thought I should write about. Here’s the conversation that followed:

Navi: Well, do you know the people that will read it?

Me: I know some of them. Some of them I don’t know.

Navi: And some of them know each other? And some don’t know each other yet? (LOVE how she threw in that “yet”, right?)

Me: Yes, I guess that’s true.

Navi: OK. You should email someone you don’t know and say, ‘Hi. I’m Lara. You’re an awesome hooper!’ Then, you should email someone you do know and say, ‘I love you.’

Add Hoop Love to Your Hoop Practice. There you go, my friends. It’s as simple as that. We can sit around and wait for someone to give us ours, or we can simply make it happen. That’s why I’m committing myself to doing some form of my daughter’s suggestion every day for the next month (we hoopers do love our 30-day challenges!). And I’m inviting you to do the same. Comment on a video you especially enjoyed. Write your hoop hero a love note. Thank the person that brings your local community together every week. Better yet, make a list of all the people you especially appreciate in the hooping community (the ones you know AND the ones you don’t know, yet). Tackle one each day. I’m puting mine on post-it notes on the wall behind my computer to remind me. And remember, it only takes a second, a minute, but the effects of showing small gratitudes can and will quickly snowball!

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Lara Eastburn has been dancing in meadows and singing with the moon while spinning in circles for eons at Superhooper.org. Beyond commenting here, you can also discuss this and other topics related to the Hooposophy for living in Hooping.org’s Hooposophy Group and Gorum. Lara is also the planting and gardening force behind discovering our hooping community roots at The Hooping Family Tree Project.

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