found.

By Jenny Evans

The town I grew up in had a population of seven. We didn’t actually call it a town or a village or a development; we called it a community. My father worked for the FAA, which meant our family was transferred all around Alaska. We moved from one small community to another. I distinctly remember that the word “community” was used to describe any of our hometowns in Alaska— regardless of the demographic, the size, the geographical location, or any other factors.

I was fortunate to travel for work and experienced a portion of what this great earth has to offer for most of my twenties. I got to walk through the Louvre with an art history professor. I ran in the mountains of Switzerland with the cows and the sunshine. I learned Swahili in order to teach English at a small orphanage in Tanzania. I spent a few nights with the great people that run the airport in Narsaraq, Greenland. I explored the geysers and hot springs in Iceland and tried my best to get a work visa in New Zealand so I could stay much, much longer. I’ve watched the tides change in the Bay of Fundy and camped in some of the most remote mountains in Wyoming. I’ve enjoyed Broadway and fantastic wine lists in New York City and feasted on fresh dates from a tree with royals in Saudi Arabia.

But most of the places I’ve traveled have been just that— places. These places have enriched my life with exposure to Mother Earth, different cultures, foods, beliefs, animals, and so much more. However, in all of my treks and travels, I have rarely found locations I would call a “community.” It wasn’t until recently that I realized the reason I have not thought of many of these now-distant towns, villages, and cities as a “community” is because I was not invested in any of these circles, locations, or people.

Growing up in small communities meant my family worked hard to help provide for everyone around us. We would hunt for Moose, and that Moose would not just feed our family, it would feed everyone. We would pick blueberries for endless days to contribute to the seasonal berry swap. It is from these early memories that I now realize that creating, finding, and maintaining community takes work. It is a place or a person, a relationship, or a group that evokes a sense of pride, synergy, a sense of growth, and quite possibly most important, an ability to question oneself and others without threat, judgement, or fear. We have to ask ourselves the hard questions; we have to be open to learning what a specific community stands for, what it needs, and how we can contribute.

Community is a collective that works together to make the place, the people, and the culture better, more full of life, fulfilled, and dare I say happy. In these times when everyone is navigating finding their sense of belonging, safety, challenge, and happiness, I am forever grateful to be in my community. It’s an environment that I have worked hard to find, create, and nourish— where people help one another, support each other, question, love, respect, and embrace differences and, most of all, a community where we can all work hard without fear of being who we are. Finding this has taken over twenty years of travel, exploring, questioning, and admitting fault, all of which I am better for. I am better because of my work for and within my community.

I am in a place that provides me with happiness and connection through all aspects. Whether it is seven people or 7,000, people I am grateful to have found my community and hope you are able to put in the work to find yours.

JENNY EVANS & her husband own Max’s Market (an organic market, cafe, bar, live music venue, and espresso bar) and Flathead Lake Resort in Bigfork, Montana. Jenny has spent most of her life in small towns, in the air (she is a pilot), and roaming the earth looking for the perfect place to call home. She loves all animals, loves to downhill mountain bike, run, surf, hike, and wander around in the forest. Jenny is passionate about local and organic foods, reducing waste, and connecting with humans, nature, and herself; she is honored to call Montana home.