If sometimes, the places where we acquired most of our connections are not available, or can’t, provide us with meaningful connections for our current moment of life.
In some cases, something in our life changes. We move to another town…or we change our status quo. All of a sudden, our previous hubs for connection may not nurture the new person we became.
Sometimes we just want to expand our horizons and make friends that will bring something new to our life…or maybe we are nurturing a new part of us that doesn’t feel seen in the circles of connections that we currently have…
Whatever the reason, sometimes we feel the need to expand our circle of connections away from our comfort zone. I have felt this need a couple of times in my life, even though I have a wonderful and eclectic circle of friends. I have compiled a list of organizations and movements – many of them are present in several places in the US, and some are worldwide and accessible online from anywhere – that aim to provide just that. Try them out and let me know what you think!
- Internations – it’s a community designed for expats (people living outside their own countries), but they are friendly to locals too, should you be interested in connecting with people from all over the world. They are present in all large capitals of the world, including NY, Miami, Los Angeles, and several middle sized cities like Austin, Fort Lauderdale, etc. They provide groups of interest like book clubs, running, nature, travelling, exploring the arts, etc. www.internations.org
- Circling –
- Turquoise Table
- MeetUp groups
- Mighty Networks
- Sparked games
- 7 cups
- The School of Life
- NextDoor
- Authentic Games
- The Wanderful Blog
- The Village by Happily Family
- Listen.ly
- Insight Timer – it’s an app, but it also fosters community in an otherwise very lonely activity: meditation. It allows users to send a “thank you for meditating with me”. In my personal experience, it has helped me stay on track with a habit that is otherwise so hard to bond upon when done from the loneliness of your home.
- The Hub – it started as the first co-working created for social and non-profit ventures, but it became strong as a community for them. It will be interesting to see how they will keep going post-COVID. I would guess that working in their community side may keep them afloat while many of the for-profit co-workings will find it hard to do the same…
- Network after Work – it is a community based on your professional needs, but it can help entrepreneurs meet and exchange ideas
- CMX Connect – the premiere event and platform (called Bevy) for community builders, it is mostly a business endeavor. It is a good resource for those that are interested in building a community and want to learn how businesses do it.
- A Small World – granted, exclusivity is not the best premise to build inclusion…this online community wants to create the no.1 exclusive community. It’s partially contradictory value proposition has shown challenging, even from a business side…
- Tea with Strangers – small groups of people meet for tea and have meaningful conversations. It was still only physically in New York, but after COVID, meetings were moved online, so you can, at least temporarily, taste their project from afar. www.teawithstrangers.com
- The Dinner Party – dinner for those who have lost someone. www.thedinnerparty.org
- Creative Mornings –
- Table talk – a conversational game, with questions that help players open up about deeper topics, hosted by someone more experienced that explains how the game works. www.table-talk.org
- Neighborhood Table –
- Neighbor watch –
- Life Boat – a duo of friends, Tim Walker and Alia McKee, that found themselves ‘mired in a mid-life friendship slump‘. It has great resources, like a study in the state of friendship in America, and a guide on how to improve the quality of your friendships. www.getlifeboat.com
- you tell me! If you find a community that could be here, contact us! We’ll promise to not only publish it, but also give you credits (if you so wish!)