What makes a community?
We all have an idea of what makes a community. Many of us can remember in vivid detail our childhood neighborhood, including who lived in each house, where our friends lived, which places had friendly, helpful people, and which had mean barking dogs. We even remember who gave out the best candy at Halloween! Or perhaps we are part of a yoga community where everyone encourages and elevates each other, providing a warm, encouraging respite from the daily grind. So it is clear that we all have an innate sense of what a community looks and feels like, but I don't think we often consider what makes a community. Well, I have been thinking about this a great deal as we set out to build our Contigo Cerritos community. I will share a few thoughts and musings in this and subsequent articles.
Human beings are social animals. Many of our most significant evolutionary advantages arise from our complex social structures. We accomplish much more in communities where we share a vision for the future and the values needed to realize the vision. We are also safer. If we were ever separated from our tribe in the past, we faced many threats, whether from other groups or from nature itself, that were mitigated by being safely in our communities. We have a visceral response to being part of a community. We feel better, more settled, and more able to relax and be ourselves. We are more productive because our brains feel free from threats and are better able to focus. And biologically, we respond favorably; we are calmer and experience less anxiety. This need for community is so ingrained in us that every study of human longevity and long-term well-being includes the benefit of being part of a community. So we all understand the benefits of being part of a community. However, there is still the question of what, exactly, makes a community. Let's examine a couple of areas to answer that question.
One of the essential ingredients for many of us in a community is shared interests or values. We see this in many of our communities. We hang out with our kiteboarding community, and we talk about our shared interests. Will it be windy tomorrow? Are you going to the beach cleanup next week? Our yoga community has conversations centered around what new poses we are working on, our interpretation of various aspects of yogic philosophy, and our favorite teachers and classes. And, of course, religious and spiritual communities are quite explicitly built on shared beliefs and values. We all believe the same things, act according to a shared set of values and support others who share our views.
But what about communities with no longstanding behavioral precedents and physical reminders that we are part of the same community? Where we need to create the structures, practices, rituals, and routines that define our community? An example I think this group can all relate to is a group of ex-pats in a foreign country.
As a general rule, we come from a wide variety of places and backgrounds. We have many different reasons for being here – everything from being tired of northern winters to wanting a lower cost of living or perhaps seeking a more wholesome and adventurous place to raise our kids – and yet we have all decided that a particular place can fulfill all these different needs. So the fundamental question is; how do we transform this broad set of interests and aims into a coherent community? Since there are no established routines or rituals, no longstanding shared beliefs, and no physical reminders to root us in our new ex-pat community, I believe that it is critical that we establish those routines, build the physical objects, and intentionally take the actions required to transform a bunch of people living in the same place into a community.
What makes the community might look very different depending on the circumstances of why it is coming into existence in the first place. In communities that share a focus on an activity, it might include shared resources that are important to the performance of that activity. In the local kiteboarding community of La Ventana, a retired engineer analyzes the publicly available weather satellite data and publishes a daily wind forecast central to the kiteboarding community. Everyone knows and trusts his predictions, and they drive many people's daily plans. In other communities with less focus on specific activities, there are many ways to create and build community. In our little neighborhood in the mountains of Colorado before the Covid pandemic, we had a monthly potluck at the fire station where neighbors could meet, socialize, and get to know each other. It has been replaced by a locals-only Facebook page where people share information about local happenings, wildlife sightings, and exciting news.
We all know community when we experience it. Still, it may not always be easy to identify the magic ingredients in a great community. But this is a vitally important question for those leaving our established communities to start or join an ex-pat community. In my next article I will look at specific, intentional actions and activities we can undertake as we build our local community!
Ron