Creating Organic Community by Sarah Jaggard

eric posted on February 15, 2010

“Creating Organic Community” by Sarah Jaggard

My husband and I live just outside of downtown Los Angeles and we love it. Our apartment overlooks part of the downtown skyline (and with that lovely perk we also experience the traffic when there is an event at the Staples Center). We are in the midst of energy and life. The lights, the restaurants, the people, and the overall vibe make this city incredible.

Living in a county with a population of 9,860,000 can be absolutely wonderful… and it can also be absolutely lonely.

Lots of people start their lives from scratch here, whether because they are pursuing a career as an actor or producer or wanting to make it big in the music scene. Usually, people’s dreams lead them here but after the initial glamour wears off they start to realize they don’t have a group of solid friends or a sense of community. Countless people move here without knowing another soul and sometimes that situation doesn’t change even after living in LA for a while. I’ve met people who have lived here for more than 2 years and still don’t have any friends… no significant connections with others… lack of proximity to others.

Once, I met someone who confessed she got massages once a week just so she could be physically touched by another person.

The city is desperate for relationships.

My friend Crystal and I have been teaming together at a spiritual community called Mosaic and we have committed to create an ethos of warmth and connection for people in Los Angeles. Together with other volunteers we attempt to create spaces for people to establish quality friendships over mutually enjoyable experiences.

One night over Vietnamese food (another perk to living in LA), Crystal and I began brainstorming about different activities we could do to create opportunities for new friendships to bloom.

Crystal had the brilliant idea to start a “foodie group.” I was all ears.

She excitedly explained how she wants to start a foodie group and anyone interested could come. She would start with her roommate and a couple friends, then encourage them to invite one other person. They would pick a weeknight and try a different restaurant each week. Each subsequent week, everyone would be encouraged to invite someone else. Over time, people would be able to bond over their shared love for food and the conversations that happen while sitting at the dinner table. Ideally, as people naturally connect to each other, those friendships would begin to exist outside of those weekly dinner adventures and hopefully develop into something more significant.

While there are gyms, bars, clubs, and various community classes people can join, there really aren’t many places to invest in healthy friendships. So what would it look like for us to create those spaces for others?

What would happen if we all began to create opportunities for people to get to know each other through something we enjoyed doing? We can call them “interest groups” with the greater purpose of connecting people to others.

Watch improv comedy shows,
start a movie-watching group,
put on a wii competition,
start an exercise group,
do a book club,
start a writing group,
look up free activities in the city…
the possibilities are endless.

Our cities are waiting for people like you and me to create possibilities for them. What will we do?