From SGI USA, I'm Cassidy Bradford and this is Budability, the weekly series where I talk with Buddhists from all walks of life about the power we each have to change our lives and the world around us.

In Buddhism, having a community is crucial. We need people to support us, challenge us, and share in our joyful moments.

So this week, we asked you to share your favorite things about being part of a community.

Many of you love being in a judgment-free space and connecting with people. One listener said that they love sharing stories.

And most of you all agreed that giving and receiving support is the best part of being in a community.

And today's guest, Alexandria Jones of San Diego, relied on her community in perhaps the most

difficult moment of her life.

Today, we're talking about how Alex became a person of strength, able to shoulder full

responsibility for everything in her life. And, of course, have the courage to lean on others

in a crucial moment. Hi, my name's Alexandria Jones.

I'm 29 years old, and I live in San Diego, California, and I currently work in sales.

Thank you so much for joining today.

I've been really looking forward to this conversation.

I think after just speaking with you a little bit a week or two ago, I felt like you're just a really

incredible person, honestly, and your story is really inspiring. So I'm looking forward to

diving into conversation with you and getting to share your story with others. So I think we can

just start with your life growing up and the role that Buddhism played in your life and your family's life.

Yeah, so I was born and raised in Riverside, California.

And when I was born, both of my parents practiced nature in Buddhism.

I feel like although I grew up in the SJA community, and it's a very peaceful group of people, and I was regularly

attending Buddhist meetings with my mom. The first formative years of my life, my home

environment really wasn't peaceful. It was quite the opposite, actually. My father was a pretty

...