I discovered a really good site for meeting people that share my interests called Meetup.com. It’s sort of a repository of special interest groups you can search to see if there is one in your area. I joined five groups: two on learning the Japanese language, another about Japanese Pop Culture, one writing group and one for watching anime. Not everything is perfect fit. One of the Japanese language groups and the J-Pop Culture groups are failing, and the writers group has meet on days I can’t attend so far. But the anime group meets once a month like clockwork, and the other Japanese Language group is very strong, getting together routinely for study sessions and to attend cultural events in our area. I find myself perusing the meetup lists to see if there is any other interest of mine that has a group sharing it. Worth looking into.
Erickray has written 2 entries about this goal
Going to Meet-ups
2 years ago
My Tribe
2 years ago
You can’t be close to 300 million people. Don’t even try. You can be cordial. You can be a good citizen. You can make this world a better place by cutting others slack. But… That’s not the same as having a group of people that you share core values with, or that like the same things you do.
The best times in my life, when I was in college, working at my first “real” job, with my fellow nerds in high school, was when I had a tribe to call my own. I want that again.
