Community: Where to find your tribe

Last night, along with 800 of our closest friends, Sparky and I sat in Sydney's Footbridge Theatre and listened to the boys from The Minimalists. This was stop #97 on their 100-city Everything That Remains tour and the place was packed.To be honest, I didn't know what to expect. What kind of people would be there? (Every kind. Which is to say, the only kind.) What would the vibe be like? (Hopeful. Positive. Warm.) What would people be looking to get from the evening? (Validation. Ideas. Practical advice. Free hugs.) What would Joshua and Ryan be like? (Delightful. Engaging. Kind. Happy.)For me, the biggest takeaway from the evening was an overwhelming sense of potential. Potential for change. Potential to build a community of like-minded people. Potential to see this idea of living with less take root and start to grow.It's undeniable that people want change. We are becoming aware that the things and status and stuff we've been chasing are not actually bringing us the happiness we were told they would. Sometimes, however, it can feel too counter-cultural, too conflicting to seem possible.But then I enter a room like the Footbridge Theatre last night and I recognise that there's not merely the potential for change - there is actual change happening.Multiple people took the time to introduce themselves and tell me a little of their stories (so great to meet you Jo, Sarah and Megan! And Kerry, we didn't get a chance to chat, but thank you for saying hello and I hope we get the opportunity to meet again soon.) and the thing that struck me most was how alike we all are. Sure, our circumstances were different, our families, our working lives, our catalysts, our starting points, but we are all changing and learning and shifting our priorities to that of less.Less stuff, less stress, less anxiety, less debt, less guilt. And in that common desire for a slower, simpler way of life lies our biggest potential - community.It's easy to feel disheartened when you're alone. It's easy to feel insignificant. It's easy to feel like whatever you do makes very little difference. But when we take the first step of acknowledging each other, we are no longer alone.So I just wanted to take a moment to say hello. I'm not sure how you arrived at this site, but I'm incredibly glad you did. Because what it is you want - a slower, simpler life - is within reach.If you want to find your own simple living tribe, I've pulled together some resources below:Minimalist.org was established by Joshua and Ryan of The Minimalists. Here you can find a local simple living meetup group, or apply to establish your own. What better way to create a community of like-minded people than by sharing a coffee with them every month? Check it out here: http://www.minimalist.org/A Simple Year is a 12-month course designed to help simplify life. Each month focuses on specific topics like simple travel, food, money, relationships and work and you will have the opportunity to connect with both the simplicity authors and a community of people on the same path. Early bird registrations close in 3 days, and you can find all the details here: http://simpleyear.coFinally, I run a Facebook group you may be interested in joining. There are almost 3,500 of us and we share the ups and downs of our personal decluttering efforts, as well as ideas and encouragement. Plus it’s genuinely the nicest group of people I’ve ever had the privilege to get to know, and we’d love to meet you. (It’s a closed group, meaning you need to be manually approved, so bear with me if it takes a little while to pop you in. I may be sleeping at the time!) Find us and join the group here