This is the fifth in a series of articles about community building.  We’re talking about camaraderie, the touchstone feeling of authentic community.  Oh yeah!  We’re talking about having fun, but it’s much, much more than that!  Grab a cup of tea or coffee, settle in and share your thoughts!

When is the last time you had a rip-roaring fun time filled with so much laughter that your belly hurt?  Where were you the time when you felt understood by the group of people you were with, so well understood that words were unnecessary?  Who were you with when you felt at peace, comfortable, perfectly at home?

The answer to the when, where and who is this: you were at the most fun place in the world; with your community!

It may have been at a family gathering, like the ones I enjoy with my family each summer when we spend a week or more by the Bras D’Or Lakes in Cape Breton.  This was my summer place as a child and when I had children, I brought my husband and children with me to this magical place.  We show up  (committment), we greet everyone (inclusivity), and we begin to plan the fun we will have, even if that fun is a pot of tea shared by a campfire (collaboration).  We laugh, we feel understood, we are at peace, comfortable, and perfectly at home.  Note: commitment, inclusivity, collaboration and camaraderie are the first four pillars of community.  There are three yet to come!

I hope you have such a place, such a community.  Everyone needs this place, this Happy Place, where cares are set aside, responded to, and where all the problems of the world are diminished in the company of people who care about you.  The camaraderie we enjoy in a community is second to none.  It’s what makes the place where the community gathers the Happy Place.  In large communities or small; the most fun I’ve had in my life and the most fun I can count on to have in my life comes in community.  Isn’t it great, then, that we can build community?

Having a community you can count on, belong to, contribute to and enjoy makes us happier and healthier.  It helps us to heal faster from an illness; it is like a secret ballast to help us weather the storms.  When you have a community you are never alone, even when you seek alone time:  You always know the community is there for you.

In Sounding the Drum: Community Building in the Digital Age, I talk about the beauty of belonging to a community and how you can build one –  or many –  in your life!  If this speaks to you, check out the book here!

When is the last time you had a rip-roaring fun time filled with so much laughter that your belly hurt?  Where were you the time when you felt understood by the group of people you were with, so well understood that words were unnecessary?  Who were you with when you felt at peace, comfortable, perfectly at home?