Commitment To Love And Service

by Crystal Grafton Combs, International President, Nu Beta (U of Mississippi)

Whether you love resolutions or love to never to make them, they are always a topic of conversation as we usher in a new year. Rather than resolutions, I personally prefer to set intentions.  This past year, my intention was to practice more kindness, toward myself and toward others. In the year ahead, it will be to create more connections.  One of my favorite contemporary holiday songs is “Christmas Wrapping.” I particularly enjoy the Glee version, and I always find myself singing along to the words and laughing out loud at the humor of it all.  There is one line, however, that I think translates into real life outside of the holidays. It goes something like, “the best gift for me this year would be completions and connections.”

Completions and connections. This will be the centerpiece of my personal intentions this year. To me, this idea of finalizing completions and creating connections speaks to our Fraternity’s commitment around a Sense of Belonging. It is our sense of belonging that connects us to one another through our friendships, linking us to each other and to our Fraternity no matter where our lives may take us, whether we are just starting our AOII journey or celebrate 50 years or more.

I think of how many times I have intended to reach out to someone to let them know of I was thinking of them, only to be distracted by something else that seemingly felt more pressing in the moment. Then the thought leaves me until several weeks or months later and the cycle repeats. Alternately, I think of those sisters with whom I have created connections and have not yet taken the opportunity to circle back and strengthen those friendships. While they can be beautiful and empowering, comforting and endearing, friendships take commitment. They take time. They take energy. The same is true for so many things in life, including our sisterhood.

Now that we are several weeks into 2022, and many of us have given up on traditional resolutions, I hope you will join me in renewing your own commitment – to love and service, to creating connections and completions, to engaging in what it means to be a sister and a friend, and to reveling in the joy of what this new year can bring!