Skip to main content

Community and Tribes




As I am doing some reading this morning about the importance of community, being active in a community, building a community, and then tribe - building one, the importance of having one, etc, the book Isabelle has, written by Joy Wilt, called A Kid's Guide to Making Friends comes to mind.

The book talks about three types of friends: Acquaintances, Playmates, and Best friends; and how they are different from each other. It's very specific. All three types of friendships are important and serve different roles in our lives, but it's important to recognize that they are different and require different amounts of energy and maintenance. The people writing about community and tribes aren't seeing the differences and are blending the two. At least to me.

A community is a network of acquaintances, playmates, and best friends who all share a common purpose. The connections are more casual than formal and generally require a minimal amount of energy. The purpose is what keeps them connected less than their interpersonal relationships with each other.
A tribe is a close network of best friends. The connections are based on shared values, interests, and experiences. These relationships are built on emotions and are intentional, requiring energy and commitment to maintain.

Ideally, each community will contain numerous tribes within it so while the purpose of the community is maintained, the members are also feeling connected to others at a personal level.

In the trenches of home educating, having a community and a tribe to be part of are of paramount importance, both to me and to 9 yo Isabelle. We need our large community to keep us aware of events happening outside our tribe, opportunities to participate that we haven't thought of and kept track of ourselves. We need our tribe for those intimate friendships, our respective circles of besties.

Park days are with the community. BBQs are with our tribe.
Book club (at the library) is with the community. Game day (in our home) is with our tribe.

What do you think? Do you have your own community(s) and tribe(s)?



** The book I mentioned above, A Kid's Guide to Making Friends has changed my life. Regardless of your age, it is a great resource for building the skills necessary for making and keeping friends. I refer to it and recommend it often just because it is that good. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm in the pillowcase business!

Part of being a stay at home mom and making sustainable living choices is keeping expenses down, but the other part is to increase the income, too.  And working from home allows me to develop multiple small income avenues rather than just going after the one big avenue of income. With that in mind, I've been brainstorming, trying to come up with a project for the cold winter months.  I've kicked around various crochet ideas, but was truly inspired when I came across the idea of making custom pillowcases. Here are some photos of the one I whipped up this morning specifically so I could take photos to promote this new business venture. Isn't that a lovely pillowcase?  I can't wait to share with you all the pillowcases I have planned! Come spring, I'll add chickens, well eggs, as another avenue.  And of course the garden will go in which will reduce our food spending in a big way. What small avenues of income are you working on? ...
6 comments
Read more

Money

Money, the taboo topic.   We're taught, by our parents and the culture we live in, to not talk about money.  Don't talk about how much you make.  Don't talk about how much you spend.  Don't talk about the ins and outs of credit cards.  Don't talk about how much financing really costs. And if you're in a financial mess, don't talk about that either. So we're each alone in dealing with our finances.  Oh sure, you an ask your folks.  And get the lecture.  Or you can pay for a consultation with a financial advisor, and their sales pitch (usually).  But where can you just sit and talk about the basics? What if you just want to know you're not the only one who is bearing the consequences of a bad choice?  What if you just want to share ideas and hear other people's thoughts on what is working and not working? I propose that it starts here.  My sustainable living passion isn't just about the planet, environment, and being fruga...
4 comments
Read more

So Much Stuff

We live in a world of SO MUCH stuff. It's overwhelming just how much stuff there is in our world, at least in the US part of the world. Yesterday, I had a couple of hours to kill, and because my husband and I have decided we would prefer to furnish our home with antiques, I decided to take a walk through the local antiques mall. The antiques mall is in an old building downtown that used to be a JCPenney, so if you're familiar with the JCPenney stores of the 1970s and before, you'll know what I mean when I say it's big, really big, as in 3 floors of stalls of antiques. And the antiques range as far as they can from crochet-edged hankies to pyrex bowls to cast iron hand pumps to hoosier cupboards. Truly, if you're looking for a specific item, and you're willing to spend the time, you'll find it in this store. So much stuff.  Most of it just sits there, collecting dust. Like wall-hanging thread holder which I first spotted the first time I w...
7 comments
Read more