i've had a lot of my mind lately but havent really written it down. one thing i've thought about a lot as late is the idea of a community structure / support group that doesn't involve some sort of worship. not a church...not a defined unit necessarily, just a means of providing community in a similar way as the positive attributes of churches/synagogues/etc.

i grew up in the baptist church, for better or worse, and certainly benefited from having a group of families who sort of congealed as a friend unit. its easy to think it was because they were all in the same church, but i think it'd go beyond that and be because they were all close in proximity, consistently. ie they went to the same place at the same time every week, give or take. its just like why your friends are who they are.... statistically you are friends with those most convenient (i have no source to back that up, just an conglomerated chunk of impressions i've picked up from listening to people who seem to know what they are talking about) and spreading that consistency across 10+ years goes a long way in terms of providing perceived / actual stability. if nothing else having a person to call for help or the intellectual reassurance that there is someone around, just in case.

these arent full thoughts. just random chunks. im actally not great at full thoughts.


related to this, i found this video today. i'm starting to link "big think"