Fishbowl

Yep: a fishbowl. That’s how the BFA community is often described: A bubble which might be easy to swim and out of, but while you’re in it, you’ll be watched constantly. You can’t go anywhere, eat anything, date anyone without everybody knowing. With only two grocery stores in town, every student is likely to know your purchases within an hour, and as my own house is across the river from the doctor’s, I all too often see when my colleagues enter and exit that place. Forget medical privacy rights. Recently it was the actual doctor’s office which, while I was translating for my friend, let slip her pregnancy. Surprise!

Over the years I’ve watched different people handle the fishbowl in different ways, whether by sheltering their private life so very much that regular work hours were honestly the only times I saw them. Others have chosen the opposite route and keep nothing private. Not going to lie - sometimes that is quite awkward. Some have had to leave the community sooner than planned, and others couldn’t even bring themselves to consider moving here. "How do you recharge if you can never escape?" they ask.

Maybe I’m an anomaly, a beta fish who settles too easily for cheap tricks inside my bubble, but I love living the tight-knit community life. It’s comforting to me to see the mother of my student also trying to figure out which yogurt to purchase now that prices have gone up, to run into a visiting alum at the local town festival, to get a ride from my colleague’s husband - who happens to also plays bass at my church and the dad to four former students - to the mechanic three villages over. It’s what so many refer to as “life on life.” The divide between professional and personal, between spiritual and secular, is microscopically thin, and I LOVE it.

To me, it’s a foretaste of heaven - where we are forced to be vulnerable with each other because there’s no hiding it anyway and we can’t remember what the point was to all the secrets. Maybe I've been luckier than most. I have found that I can share the worst of me, and I have still been loved. It keeps me honest, humble, and engaged. My small group girls could appear around the corner at any moment, and what message will I communicate to them? Am I living in an authentic way? I’m not saying the fishbowl is for everyone, but I am saying I’ve made my home in one and I won’t be trading it for a giant tank anytime soon.

Community eating together at local town festival (pic credit: BFA's Facebook account)