May was full of community.

Beautiful things happen when I’m together with my people.

As I’ve said many times before, I pay attention to how things make me feel. And where there’s joy, I put more energy. And this past month, if you’ve been watching my Instagram, you’ll know I’m already finding SO. MUCH. JOY. in being back on tour and connecting with the bowling friends I haven’t seen or bowled with in what seems like a really long time.

Bowling brings people together and the bowling community is filled with so much love.  

As you may remember, my grandma Betty’s love of community is where it all began for me.  I’ve written before about how she inspired me to bowl, and that she bowled for no other reason than the community. (Click Here to Read That) She bowled in a league in Dyer, Indiana and never took it really seriously. She basically just bowled for the love of socializing and bowling. Every Wednesday night, she went bowling to be with her people — her girls on her team. And she had so much fun! She sometimes won (because of their handicap) and once she even went home in her bowling shoes because she was so excited.

This past month I bowled in the Women’s Open Championships and I was able to spend a sliver of time with MY girls.

When I’m bowling with my girls at the national tournament, I’m especially reminded of my Grandma Betty’s spirit. I’m reminded of the fun and community that kept me wanting to go along with her to her league night all those years ago. I’m reminded of her love for the bowling community and how it grew into my love for it too.

Some women have been coming with their team to these Women’s Open championships for 40+ years. It’s a bit of a historic event that brings out a lot of different levels of bowlers. A lot of them are not super competitive women. As my Grandma Betty did, they just loved bowling league. And this national event gives them a chance to get together with even more of their bowling friends once a year. There are women of all ages at the event and there are divisions. In my division, there is a rule that states you can’t have more than 1 pro on the team. I bowl in the highest division but it’s a nice break from being uber-competitive. It’s mostly a really lighthearted time together to play with these girls. It’s a nice contrast to the other types of competitive events during the season. 

Some people have a hard time finding a good team for this event. But I’ve been bowling with these girls for about 10 years. We all know each other from college bowling and we all make it almost every year. They’re all younger than me, but we’ve always had a really good relationship and I love bowling with them. We all live in different states and live our busy lives but once a year we commit a few days to each other.

Even though we really show up for friendship and community more than anything, we all know that we are all always going to give it our all. There aren’t any slackers on the team and there’s also no judgmental feelings. We can all be who we are. It is just such a comforting feeling to have mixed into the year’s tour schedule. 

There’s this whimsy about my team even though everyone’s hard working. And I love that. When I show up for that tournament, I know I am always going to have a good time. I am with my girls and I know the days will be lighthearted and filled with a little ridiculousness, and a lot of laughing. That team has enriched my life on so many levels. Bowling with them really brings me that spark I talked about in a post last year. And as I said, it’s important to find and fuel those sparks of joy and inspiration in your life. When I am around these friends who aren’t there for any reason other than the joy of the sport, it fuels my inner spark to burn brighter. It reminds me why I love the sport and the community. It goes back to that whole idea: fun, lighthearted things are often exactly what we need to give us energy.

Oh, but also – I do believe that we have a real shot at winning. Last year we broke the team record for highest game ever in this event. So, all I’m saying is… don’t sleep on us.

Here and there, there might be a year someone misses because of a life event like a new job or a pregnancy, but we try to avoid that. We almost always all show up. We all know that when you can find a team where you can totally be authentic and genuine and just show up as everything that you are, you hold onto that team!

Every year, we create these memories together that will last our lifetime. From our funny team photo to discussing crossing team gifts, I find that I laugh more when I am with those girls than I do anywhere else on the lanes.

Sometimes I look around at the event and I see other older teams of women laughing it up too. There’s no judgement. At these events, there’s no pressure. No drama. There’s just this spirit of love, and being together that exists and fills you up with so much warmth. 

That’s what I have with them. That’s what we will have ‘til we’re 80. 

So thank you, Jessica Abel, Emily Fagan, and Adrienne Hare, for brightening my life on the lanes, giving me crazy memories to hang on to forever, and reminding me why I started bowling in the first place.