Community building definitely doesn't come naturally to me. I didn't practice it or observe it much as a kid -- I was lucky enough to have a supportive nuclear family and enough school friends to the point where community just seemed automatic. Like many others, as an adult I realized that community is anything but automatic and we sometimes have to work hard to make communities happen!
In my adulthood I've learned the most about community from a long running meditation group in my area. At first, we would just meet, sit silently, share a little bit about how we were doing, then all disperse. At some point, someone offered to bring snacks for those who wanted to stick around after and chat. Somehow, that was the spark that we needed and all of a sudden we were gathered around a plate of strawberries and carrots laughing and getting to know each other. That little gathering grew into game nights, summer picnics, and yearly trips together.
From that I learned that the difference between a mostly anonymous group of people and a tight community can be just a little bit of effort! That's not to say I'm perfect at applying this (I tend toward introversion) but I do now keep my eyes open for opportunities to nudge things in the direction of community.
What a cool perspective - I have been lucky enough to experience a lot of strong female role models in my life (my mom is wonderful but these women were mom-adjacent) who have had wildly different life experiences & perspectives. I’ll be following this post with interest!
I'm so thrilled to read this. I knew about elephants, but not whales. Humans have this nanny instinct, but our nuclear family structure often isolates young mothers. I'm so glad you are talking about this.
Heck yeah! If you're interested in this content, Earth, I hope you'll subscribe to my newsletter, The Auntie Bulletin. "Humans have the nanny instinct, but our nuclear family structures often isolate mothers." This is exactly what my newsletter is about! And a lot more... https://theauntie.substack.com/
Community building definitely doesn't come naturally to me. I didn't practice it or observe it much as a kid -- I was lucky enough to have a supportive nuclear family and enough school friends to the point where community just seemed automatic. Like many others, as an adult I realized that community is anything but automatic and we sometimes have to work hard to make communities happen!
In my adulthood I've learned the most about community from a long running meditation group in my area. At first, we would just meet, sit silently, share a little bit about how we were doing, then all disperse. At some point, someone offered to bring snacks for those who wanted to stick around after and chat. Somehow, that was the spark that we needed and all of a sudden we were gathered around a plate of strawberries and carrots laughing and getting to know each other. That little gathering grew into game nights, summer picnics, and yearly trips together.
From that I learned that the difference between a mostly anonymous group of people and a tight community can be just a little bit of effort! That's not to say I'm perfect at applying this (I tend toward introversion) but I do now keep my eyes open for opportunities to nudge things in the direction of community.
"The difference between a mostly anonymous group of people and a tight community can be just a little bit of effort!" This is so true!
What a cool perspective - I have been lucky enough to experience a lot of strong female role models in my life (my mom is wonderful but these women were mom-adjacent) who have had wildly different life experiences & perspectives. I’ll be following this post with interest!
I'm so thrilled to read this. I knew about elephants, but not whales. Humans have this nanny instinct, but our nuclear family structure often isolates young mothers. I'm so glad you are talking about this.
Heck yeah! If you're interested in this content, Earth, I hope you'll subscribe to my newsletter, The Auntie Bulletin. "Humans have the nanny instinct, but our nuclear family structures often isolate mothers." This is exactly what my newsletter is about! And a lot more... https://theauntie.substack.com/