How will we define community in the future?

Friday, August 24th, 2007
by Antonio

I was recently asked the question how do I define community? This was in many ways a fascinating question to ponder. For me community means those people you choose to surround yourself with on a daily basis. When I think of my community, it includes those individuals that I work with directly and are part of my “direct” community and the larger, external community that makes up where I live, the places I shop and eat and relax. This “indirect” community is a tangible and real thing, I pick up my morning coffee and don’t need to ask for my order, they “know” me there and the staff makes an effort to remember how I take my morning joe. Everywhere from auto dealership that services my car, to the girl that cuts my hair, to the pastry and sandwich shop make up a part of my community.

But this is changing. In a very real way.

My community has extended outside the “real” world into the virtual world of Web 2.0. Zaadz is an online community that states its purpose and mission is to:

Let’s change the world.

Our Mission. We’re gonna change the world. Our math goes like this: you be the change + you follow your bliss + you give your greatest strengths to the world moment to moment to moment + we do everything in our power to help you succeed + you inspire and empower everyone you know to do the same + we team up with millions like us = we just affected billions = we (together) changed the world.

Our Plan. Ours involves Conscious Capitalism infused with Spirituality and a healthy dose of Enthusiasm, Love, Service, Inspiration, Passion, Humor and Teamwork. People CRAZY enough to think they can change the world, Courageous enough to do something about it, AND Committed enough to stick to it when they feel like giving up.

We’re in the process of building THE most inspired community of people in the world…social networking with a purpose, a community of seekers and conscious entrepreneurs circulating wisdom and inspiration and wealth and all that good stuff. We’re passionate about inspiring and empowering people to bring their dreams to life, learning and growing and getting paid to do what they love, using their greatest gifts in the greatest service to the world. (And having fun in the process!)

Our Community. You (& Your Friends). Yes, you. You want more than the 9-5, the house and the car, the conditioning. The blah! Life is to be lived - Fully. In spirit. In love. In service. In celebration. (You’ve already swallowed the red pill, so let’s go…)

Us. A community of Leaders, Visionaries, Thinkers, Artists, Writers, Healers, Teachers, Activists, Environmentalists, Conscious Entrepreneurs, and Many (many!) Others. People of many ages (from 12 to 90), many nationalities, from different countries (over 110!) and different backgrounds. Some already making huge differences in thousands of lives, others working to make a difference starting with themselves.

I have recently reconnected with this community. I hope to begin building an additional community here through this blog, through staying in contact with the various other educators, artists and creative individuals that I have met over the course of my career and travels. So how do you define community?