For the last 10 years, I’ve been obsessed with community.
When I say obsessed, I mean that I have an undergraduate degree with a 250-page thesis in “Intentional Living Communities” (thanks to a create-your-own-obscure-focus Humanities program), and have spent most of my working years helping found or resource more than 80 communication communities on 6 continents. Proof: I’m into this.
In recent years, as the topic of “community” has grown from Robert Putnam Bowling Alone in the book aisles into countless worldwide bestsellers, I’ve realized that a) I was right about what’s cool, and b) not many people seem to be talking about an essential facet of building community — building really good community.
From Sebastian Junger to Charles Vogl to countless business biographies, we’ve heard about belonging, boundaries, identity, and ritual; all the things that form a group with an inside and an outside, where we know (relatively) what’s expected and how to take part.
But, what distinguishes a community from a tribe? A group with an identity from a home that radiates warmth the moment you step inside? A family from a lifelong space of support?
I don’t claim to be an authority on this. The combination of psychology, anthropology, sociology, and systems design that makes up community is something I…
