No Man is an Island

The power of community

Hi Zan, Hi Pa

Volume #35

February 25th, 2025

HI, PA: I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the power of community and how much the communities I’m a part of contribute to my life. What would you say is the most supportive community you’ve ever belonged to?

HI, ZAN: I’m such a solitary person that I don’t often think in terms of community. It’s not that I don’t like being around people—I have a wonderful family and great friends—more that I seem to require a large amount of solitary time to recharge my interior batteries.

ZAN: Would you consider yourself an introvert then?

PA: Not at all. More of an extrovert who requires some alone time. Where do you stand on that spectrum?

ZAN: Same here! I always call myself an introverted extrovert—someone who enjoys her own company but also gains energy from being around a community.

PA: Probably the most important community I’ve ever been part of was when I worked on USIA Exhibits in the former USSR. I know I’ve mentioned my Soviet experience often in these discussions, but that’s because it was such a huge part of my life (and of Amanda’s, too: I was single on my first tour, for seven months, then Mom and I went back twice for a total of another 22 months before you and Juliana were born). We were part of a group of 35 or so Americans plus other assorted Westerners, working under a lot of pressure in isolated places like Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Tbilisi, and Tashkent. The hardship and oppressive atmosphere welded us all together. Amanda and I are still very close to many of those former co-workers.

What was your most supportive community?

ZAN: That’s a hard question for me to answer because I feel like I’ve been a part of so many supportive communities—both big and small—over the years. There was the debate team I was part of in middle school that always felt like a fun and intellectually stimulating place to land after a long day of classes and sports; the scuola di comunità (community school) Catholic group I was a part of when living in Italy, where we discussed everything from love to the meaning of life over pasta and vino rosso.

PA: And where the priest who led it jumped out of the car to argue with a bike-rider, correct? I loved that story.

ZAN: Yes—when we were driving home from the group one day, a cyclist cut the priest off so he got out of the car, shouting and gesticulating wildly. The words he said about the cyclist when he got back into the car were not words I’d ever thought I’d hear coming out of a priest’s mouth…

Then there was my tight-knit friend group in high school that got me through the ups and downs of adolescence; the two other volunteers I worked with in a battered women’s shelter who guided me through a transition phase of life; my community of expat friends in Cambodia who made the world feel both enormous and tiny all at once; my Italian language club in Fort Collins that has become like a family for me; yoga studios, dance classes, coworkers, and more.

Each of these communities has served some kind of purpose in my life, whether that’s teaching me something new, giving me important friendships and connections, or just giving me a safe and positive space outside of my home to go spend time in.

Studies have shown that the sense of belonging to a community is directly correlated with health throughout various stages of life. Why do you think that is?