Circles

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In his book The Accidental Creative , Todd Henry talks about an interesting aspect of social groups. Namely that relationships are key to growing personally and professionally.

Many of the greatest creatives throughout history have gathered in small groups to stay focused and engaged, and the practice continues to benefit those who go to the effort to instill it.

“These small group meetings can stoke your passion, help you stay aligned with what matters most, inspire and give you new ideas or directions for projects, and simply feed you emotionally in ways you may be lacking.” says Todd Henry.

At the end of the day, gathering a small group of individuals that want to further their craft, hobby, inner-personal life, business — whatever the reason — is going to be beneficial.

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I can’t live without you.

The social imperatives of our Stone Age brethren were fairly simple — food, water, shelter, sex. These elements were fundamental to both personal survival and the perpetuation of the species. The meta-imperative? – don’t get killed. So, what might be the best way not to get killed? The most obvious answer would appear to be belonging to a group — live in a group, sleep in a group, travel in a group, hunt in a group – stay alive.

Our modern need for community and striving for connection runs in a straight line right back to this survival strategy. If we are part of “the group” — if we are loved and not rejected — we will survive. This premise holds even if that “group” to which we want to be connected is a single individual. If we are left out or feel rejected by “the group”, then we will not survive. No wonder we work so hard to stay “in” at both the group and the individual level.

From here, it also stands to reason that one of the reasons social and emotional rejection of any sort is so dreadfully painful for us is that it taps a hardwired response linking directly to the avoidance of our imminent, or at least potential, demise. The phrase, “I can’t live without you.” from this perspective might be taken quite literally, at least as a perception.