Building a Blog that Promotes Community
Maybe once upon a time people paid for written content alone, but the internet is now saturated with content of all kinds. Given the choice, many people choose content that is easier to consume ... like podcasts and videos. For many people, the written word is the least valued of all content mediums.
Nevertheless, if media are the tools and platforms we use to store, share, and communicate information, ideas, and entertainment, then the written word will always be the oldest, if not the first, form of media.
As such, it is still the foundation of most media today. When putting together a video or podcast, most content creators start with some kind of script consisting of mostly just words. Even with AI taking over many markets and industries, human writing still has its place in prompt engineering.
So, writing is and always will be valuable. The important thing to remember here is that it's not the mere words that make writing important valuable. These days, people pay for outcomes, identity, belonging, opportunity, or access. If someone decides to start a blog or newsletter, even though they are on the internet, they're deciding to dress those things in written words alone, instead of spoken words, videos or some other form of media. All of the mediums can have value if the content itself has value.
People don't want more opinions, more news, more complaints, and I don't want to provide a forum for that. I want to provide a forum that aims to build meaningful community and purpose in an increasingly disconnected world.
But even if I'm going to provide such a community, it's just going to be a bunch of talk if my words don't provide something tangible.
That's what led me to the idea of building a community for finding real-world communities. How do I meet people offline? How do I get involved in meaningful projects? How about building a community that helps people find or build communities? How about helping them get involved in meaningful projects? Now we're not just talking.
I originally set out to write a blog post about starting a newsletter, but I eventually noticed that this mission is much bigger than a newsletter. Rambling Spirit, and all media, can provide practical value if it regularly highlights new intentional communities, local initiatives, volunteer opportunities, and community-building success stories.
I've struggled to choose a mission in life. And, many of us know from experience, without a mission we miss out on opportunities. I have chosen my own path many times, only to see the path God chose for me---the better path---diverge into the distance and out of reach.
God created me for some distinct, unique purpose, and I haven't done too well trying to figure one out on my own. Right now, I'm choosing what I believe God has chosen for me. I'm choosing to write blogposts and a newsletter that invite people into meaningful, purpose-driver communities. I'm not just writing for readers. I'm writing to find participants.
Most blogs and newsletters discuss ideas. Very few drive and document real-world efforts. This blog is here to help people actively participate in community projects, like providing a mapped database for farmsteads and religious communities, or connecting people with communities that are building and resurrecting a culture with their skills and hands.
Communities need momentum to start. Rambling Spirit has been a slow-rolling load. It's been around for over 12 years, but it's still just getting started and it's still gaining momentum. We will continue to build a unique community for those seeking purpose-driven communities.
My goal is to build up our own community that aims to produce tangible results in the real world.
I want to make this newsletter the search mechanism for people who want to build something. Let's find and help the people rebuilding community in America.
That's the mission.
That's also why a printed magazine is so important to this mission. When it comes out again, it won't be just a magazine. It will physically symbolize our commitment to produce tangible results in the real world. The print magazine won't just be another medium for our content. It will be a physical representation and testament to our values.
The once and future magazine was and will be the handy record of everyone and everything the community discovered and built together.
Community Project in Action
My current community project is an app for the gig driving community. In many ways, the drivers who drive for apps like Uber and DoorDash are alone and too scattered. Even the communities that try to build community among them are fragmented. I've searched all over the internet for a network that genuinely captures the dynamic culture of gig workers. Such a network does not exist.
The app I'm building, called Rambler, aims to bring these drivers together. One of the ways it will do that is through tournaments wherein drivers compete to complete the most rides and deliveries and make the most money within a given time period.
The Rambler app will have many other features, like an investment marketplace for drivers, and a dashboard where drivers can log their rides and earnings.
It all circles back to building community. Gig workers have the range to help build connections between other communities that can't be as mobile. That's why I think it's important to build community among them. If the many scattered communities in our society are like dots on a map, gig workers can be like highway exits and interchanges. They're the ones who connect the dots. If we connect the connectors, we can link the many dots on the map to each other.
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