Today the label “Community” is applied to any group of people who frequent the same place.  That’s not necessarily a Community – it’s often just a group of people who frequent the same place.  Some of these groups become a Community over time, but it’s more the exception than the rule.  I talk about Community – a lot – I know.  It’s my goal that the people who hang out here at Life, for instance will eventually become one.

In The Different Drum Scott Peck writes 330 pages about Community yet early in the book he admits, “… it is virtually impossible to describe community meaningfully to someone who has never experienced it – and most of us have never had an experience of true Community.”

When you read my second book, Sounding the Drum: Community Building in the Digital Age,  you’ll know whether or not you’ve ever had the experience of true community, you’ll learn how to build one and you’ll never hear or speak the word in the same way again.

What’s the big deal about Community?  A Community is a special place where the people feel connected to one another; a safe place for all to be who they are.   In a true Community the group of people come to think of themselves in terms of “we”.  Community, at its heart and soul, is a feeling.  Never have I felt so loved and accepted for who I am as when I have been in a Community.

That’s a pretty big deal to me.

When and where in your life have you had an experience of true Community?

photo credit: Pedro Szekely