Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

news.ycombinator.com

121–130 of 585 posts

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#121
I guess I'm a little weird, because while I have plenty of friends (generally former coworkers), I generally haven't felt the need to be part of a community since I got married.

I like my wife, presumably she likes me, and having a person that cohabits with me that I get along with has honestly done a good enough job at making me feel a connection and purpose.

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#122
post #31

I don't -- all of my "communities" are through work. Not the answer you're looking for, but I've been working in tech long enough at this point that I'm pretty sure it's not going to change (for me).

I don't really even have community through work. There was more of a community when everyone was working at an office, but not to a massive extent.

(Still wouldn't go back to the office.)

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#123
Festivals.

Any kind of festival. Music festival. Art festival. Craft festival.

Everyone drops their guard and you can talk to them.

Another one you can do: volunteer at a shelter. If you are still hiding from covid, try volunteering for Habitat For Humanity. Less people interaction on the latter.

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#124
I shovelled snow for the older lady who lived around the corner. She had the same given name as my mother. We talked shop about gardening. Occasionally she would invite my kids over for tea and cookies. We traded books.

Other neighbours would be working on projects in their yard. I offered to help. We get to talking. Some of us had kids around the same age who started hanging out.

I show movies in my yard when the weather is nice and invite people over. We make a big potluck dinner and hang out.

I care a lot about global warming and climate change. One of the biggest impacts we can have as individuals is at the local level. Help out with municipal elections and support councillors who are going to help reduce traffic, make streets safer, help develop community infrastructure, etc. Go to zoning by-law meetings and press for mixed-use neighbourhoods. There's lots you can do here.

I also play music and enjoy board gaming. I meet other musicians through gigs or friends and we jam together, etc. I've joined gaming groups at my local game store on and off when I get into a good game.

There are lots of ways to get out and get local. Start helping people in your community get what they need is a good way to start.

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#125
post #34

You asked, so I'll tell you: My local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. https://jw.org . I've never been happier in my life, and the sense of purpose, community, and security has never been higher. I won't espouse any religious teachings here, that's what the link above is for should you choose to visit it. The most amazing part is that it's genuine and trustworthy. It's all made of imperfect humans to be sure, bu…

Eh, it's genuine as long as you subscribe to their set of beliefs. This may not be a problem for you, but for folks who care about reality, it could be more difficult. The difference between this and say, a rec soccer team, is that it's an all-or-nothing endeavor. You can't "casually" become a Jehovah's Witness (or any other religion), you have to decide that your entire life is aligned to those principles. I'm not k…

JW are all or nothing, but lots of other religious communities accept various degrees of unbelief: various Jewish denominations, Quakers, Unitarians, Episcopalians, Western-style Buddhists, etc. Catholicism is officially all or nothing but if you're born into it, there are a lot of liberal parishes where you're not expected to actually believe it. There was an Episcopalian meme circulating in the 00s where it showed a picture of the controversial liberalizing American Archbishop with the text "Don't believe in that crap? Neither do we."[1] That's pretty standard among mainline denominations.

[1]: http://mliccione.blogspot.com/2006/11/apropos-of-episcopal-p...

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#126
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're referring to what happens if you join the faith, and then leave it: Defellowshipping, aka shunning.

I googled the word and the first google hit tells me that if I am following those rules, it's not cool for me to say hello to someone in that state of being.

Yeah, JW are, to put it mildly, nuts. They also outlaw blood transfusions. They literally expect you to just die if you experience any sort of trauma.

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#128
Get a housemate or two or move in with some. Make sure they are doing it because at least partly they like having housemates. In other words, you don't want to move in with silent bob who's just doing it because of financial reasons. Lots of folks like having housemates for the community.

Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?

#130
my town of 10,000 in a larger school district of 40,000. Schools have parent run (not associated with ISD at all) associations by grade level. (pre school, elementary, middle, high) They put on social events at least monthly with smaller groups breaking out weekly. Pickle ball, tennis, mahjong, parties, clubs, etc.
Post reply on HN