Three Ways I Found Community

One of my theories is that when humans aren’t using their inherent gift of creativity, they get grumpy. This isn’t necessarily something that you go after on your own; discovering your creativity sometimes takes a village, or at the very least, your community.

What is your community? Merriam-Webster says it’s an interacting population of various kinds of individuals. I like this because individuals certainly come in a variety pack, but the goal is to find ones that like some of the same things that you do.

What are your interests? Do they involve a particular art, style of music, type of people, or the outdoors? If you’re new to an area, perhaps a good place to start is at Meetup.com. I first discovered Meetup.com when I came across their Midwesterners group. Having spawned from the middle of our country, I was intrigued with the idea that instead of trying to find Midwesterners at any given event, which was what seemed to happen to me every time anyway, I could actually choose to be with only Midwesterners for a whole evening. I knew from many years of meeting strangers at get-togethers and through friends that Midwesterners tended to be friendly, open, honest, and simple. And as a whole, Midwesterners were willing to try just about anything since there wasn’t anything exciting enough to keep us from leaving home.

So when I met two of my Midwestern friends to meet up with the rest of the Midwesterner crowd, I was happily surprised. Most of the members were young and new to the city. They had either left home alone, or had come to live here with a friend. But most important, they trusted the fact that they could meet other Midwesterners and know that they would be welcomed into a friendly community. We made another date to meet a month later and I got back on Meetup.com to see what other groups congregated in order to create community.

Another community-creating idea came from my girlfriends. One complaint as we crossed the finish line of our twenties into our thirties was that we saw a lot less of each other. Marriage, babies, significant others, busy careers, and exercise regimes had made it difficult for us to connect on a regular basis. Two friends moved into a tree house on the north face of Marin County’s Mount Tamalpais. It was the perfect place to set up SalonMV (for Mill Valley).

The first salon gathered women friends from the city and Mill Valley to watch the recent life-enhancing movie, The Secret, followed by Oprah’s breakdown on how to make our lives better by using the film’s lessons. Between glasses of wine and creating focus boards to incorporate intention into our lives, there was laughter, tears, and an honest feeling of community among female friends. We made a date for the next SalonMV, to bring in an intuitive and help her help us find our divine purpose in life.

The last part in creating a community that fulfills you should always include giving back.