The Reliants Project #47
How networks shape our lives
Thank you for signing up to all the new readers! Here’s a collection of nuggets about how networks shape your wellbeing, relationships and community to help you actively cultivate yours.
Wellbeing
Some of you have heard me talk about intentionally seeking friends that are either much younger or much older than I am. These friendships are incredibly gratifying and help to expand my perspective beyond my lived experience. In 4 reasons why we should all make friends from different generations, they discuss the mental health benefits of expanding the age range of your friendships.
Relationships
You may remember my discussion with Karsang Tamang, where we talked about how important relationships and community were in the aftermath of a disaster. The Relationships Project’s latest report explores the importance of relationships and strong communities, in crisis and beyond. Co-authored with the After Disaster’s Network, they look back on the past 2.5 years of Covid, look ahead to the challenges that we face, and explore some steps that we might take, together, as we prepare for a long, hard winter.
Community
Given all the polarisation we see in the news, it’s nice to know that there are efforts on the ground to bridge the political divide. Fulcrum highlights some of the efforts to build a moment and also points to resources for others trying to do the same. While this analogy is very US-centric, it does a great job of explaining the role that organisations can play as a hub in an ecosystem:
“Before we had the interstate system, we had a disjointed collection of state highways and backroads to get across the country. While Route 66 is now iconic, it wasn’t efficient. In much the same way, the inter-movement approach to organizing this ecosystem seeks to meaningfully connect the matrix of intra-movement relationships together to maximize collective effectiveness and efficiency.”
Resources
Links to the most commonly used content:
The Reliants Project Library: Recommended resources for the community curious
Community Reading List: Favourite books of the Atomico Community Team
The Reliants Project newsletter archive: Links I’ve shared in previous newsletters
About The Reliants Project
Reliant is my word for a person that someone depends on, an essential component of our social networks. With each edition, I’ll share useful nuggets about how networks shape your wellbeing, relationships, and community to help you actively cultivate yours. Whether you want to make better introductions, build better social products and services, or activate networks to make an impact in the world, let me help you reach your goals.
You can find more about The Reliants Project here.