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Our Future is Community
The future of community is shaped by the choices we make today. By prioritizing connection, two-way dialogue, and curation, we create meaningful and supportive communities.
Curation takes heavy lifting and effort. When we are creating community, understanding who we are for allows us also to discover who we are not for. Because in a true community, there is no room for followers or lurkers. Everyone has a voice and everyone participates in our own way since we deeply care about each other.
When we design communities with mindful curation, it is a game changer. We focus on values, passion and synergy—not just size and bland requirements.
This is why having guiding commitments as how we show up in community, together, is foundational to creating thriving communities. It’s not just about ‘belonging’ because we show up or are invited. We actually have a responsibility and commitment.
Because at the end of the day, community is built on trusted relationships, open dialogue, honesty and a drive to co-create what we need.
We Bring the Ingredients
The pauses, rests, and silences in music are just as important as the notes themselves. It is through pauses and silences that we experience the full emotional impact of music. These open spaces facilitate an openness to what is possible. The flow of life opens our hearts in community.
Open dialogue and radical honesty are key ingredients because we no longer talk at people in community. We experiment and unlearn a lot of the practices and patterns that have been ingrained in us.
There is no stage or podium in community. No one lecturing us or talking at us. It is all about openly sharing and creating experiences. We constantly create living systems that are not stagnant. There is no “here’s how we do things.” Instead, we are in flow and constantly question, challenge and focus on our greatest opportunities, together.
It’s curious that some of the most thriving communities, like cancer groups, are ones that we simply need. Members are happy to find supportive members to connect with. But these communities are ones we never actually wanted to ever belong to.
Co-creating the Future of Community
Imagine if a community had ongoing onboarding for new members; a kind of water cooler and dialogue cafe. Not to initiate into how things are done but to spark a conversation and evolve the community. From the outset, it would be clear that everyone’s questions and input is valued through practice. This is foundational for creating living systems, which are so needed right now in the world.
What if we are all members of a community and there is no distinction if someone is new or well established? Perhaps there are no cliques or questions of “how long have you been a member”? Because part of the values and principles includes no division. We are simply members here to learn, support each other and grow together around shared community purpose.
When we stop leading with structure, and focus on leading with purpose, we become more adaptable to natural change. Creating living communities is messy and that’s ok. We get to bring together people around a shared passion like getting healthy, designing the future of work or whatever sparks us in community. We then add meaningful connection, a playground and whatever else is needed and emerges as we go.
Curating the Field of Possibilities
Dialogue in community has its own rhythm and pace. It connects open hearts and allows us to come truly alive. This is why it is so important to create communities with care and intent. And know who we are for and who are not for.
Because when communities are engines of creation, we focus on what we are creating. We actually become more inclusive and playful when we stop needing to be right and spending all our energy fighting to be seen and be liked.
And just to be clear, the communities of the future will not be about the demographics that divide us. But about the ties (passions) that bind us around what we care most about. Because opportunity-creators are all about growing together with curiosity and courage to explore the unknown. And living systems operationalize wholeness and interdependence.
What if we had more natural participation and less fabricated engagement? Perhaps no lecture halls and more dialogue circles will open more hearts to what is possible?
Related: The Art of Silence