I saw some threads about free time and desire for community on my feed earlier and I found that slightly relatable.
Commenters in the latter thread were quick to point out that openly identifying oneself is not a good idea which means community must be formed by other means.
So what I’ve been doing is being friendly with everyone and asking for their opinions on things and trying to discern people’s political orientation in casual normal conversation. It’s a pretty painful process because most people have awful takes and it’s hard to convince people without being preachy.
The goal isn’t even to convince people, after all, the goal is to connect with people with similar views. And this strategy only works if you can find tons of willing people whose opinions you can discreetly interrogate.
Just by observation I find the best way to meet random people is to play sports, e.g. there’s always people playing basketball at the park.
Also I’m awful at sports. No one cares what you have to say if you can’t play their game. It turns out staying home and reading is not a good way to make friends. After this realization I’ve been working out and exercising more. So with this awareness I think it makes sense to say that playing playing sports and exercising are revolutionary activities. I could have the most eloquent arguments and the most beautiful speeches but those conversations are imaginary if I can’t get people’s attention. And because the society we live in doesn’t value studying as much as sports that’s just the game we have to play.
So what sports do you play? What are the best sports to play in this context?
Sports are incredibly valuable. They’re 1. fun 2. A great way to stay in shape and 3. A great way to meet people and make friends.
As you might have noticed by my profile, I love hockey. I’ve met a lot of people and made many friends through it. If you’re good at the game, people respect you and listen to you. I’ve definitely had a lot of political conversations with freinds I’ve made. Maybe I didn’t convert them to communism lol but I’ve certainly given people a new perspective and pushed them more left. Talking to people about politics is a delicate process, I know, but you just got to be patient. Especially when as I’ve noticed in the US, being too invested in politics is associated with being weird or crazy. So you have to be very subtle about it and it sucks.
And hey, If any of y’all are looking for a sport to get into, there are dozens of different websites and social media groups you can find where people organize meetups to play. Obviously details on that depend on where you live. I got on a bush league team just by being active at my local rink, meeting a couple guys who were part of a team and they invited me to their Facebook group (I know, gross) and to play with em. I have some freinds that do the same with baseball too. And obviously, as you mentioned, basketball is pretty easy to get into as there’s always people on the court playing. It’s important to join a team sport though, as you aren’t going to get that community experience by playing a more individualistic sport like golf or tennis or whatever.
But I’m glad you’re doing well, best of luck to ya!
Thank you for sharing your successful experiences. This gives me hope!