💬 Thursday Thread: How do you build community?
Why is community important and how many should you belong to?
A community is defined as a group of people who share common characteristics, interests, or a sense of belonging, often living or interacting in the same place or online. A community can be defined by geographical location (like a neighborhood or town), shared interests (like a book club or sports team), common heritage (like a religious group or ethnic community), or other shared values or goals. Research shows communities provide a sense of belonging, support, and identity and can play an essential role in our social and emotional well-being.
So many women I know have a burning desire right now to build and participate in community for a variety of reasons, from the election outcome to being empty nesters to loneliness post-pandemic. I know firsthand from my career and activism that when we come together with people who share our values and encourage our abilities, we create community that serves as a safety net that encourages us to explore our passions. That community is key to succeeding in growing your fire, whether it’s personal, professional or political. And it’s why I founded Firestarter University (you can enroll here for FREE when you preorder my book), a year-long online program that includes live monthly workshops taught by me and guest speakers, workbooks and resources, accountability check-ins, and a community to help you succeed.
To be clear, community is different from friendship. Community can be made up of friends, but friends do not always make up community. As
said during our Substack Live this week, community is a great way to make friends, a way to see friends you already have, a way to get to know people who are different than you, the group best poised to show up for you in a time of need, and a way to not feel lonely or alone. A friendship can take 200 hours to cultivate, but community just requires you to show up on a consistent basis.Check out my conversation with Katherine about how to build community, and then chime in below about what community means to you.
👉 For today’s Thursday thread, here’s what I’d like to know:
How have you built community and how many do you belong to?
What do you see as the difference between community and friendship? Can one lead to the other?
Welcome to the Thursday Threads, a weekly chance for us to connect with one another in the comments. Join me and other readers as we navigate important discussions. And a note: a difference of opinion is always okay, being unkind to one another is not. Let’s keep these conversations respectful.
My new book Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, is available for preorder! Out in June 2025, Fired Up will give you the formula for finding your unique spark and show you how to use it to start fires in your life. By preordering, you can enroll for FREE in Firestarter University, a year-long online program that includes live monthly workshops, workbooks and resources, accountability check-ins, and a community to help you succeed.
Always lead with how you can be helpful to others - always been my motto :)
Building community means bringing people together for a common cause or mission (doesn't have to be political or partisan) and opening doors of opportunity for them to help or contribute, in ways large or small, to suit their bandwidth or capabilities. I'd say I belong to quite a few, from my workplace to my temple community to my advocacy community. Community is about that common cause, and friendship is about trust. They can absolutely lead to one another, because good people attract good people!