A feel good story

More than half of this country now believes gay marriage should be legal, and President Obama has put his POTUS stamp on it.

This is not nor will it ever be an op-ed blog, but it’s worth using this subject as a way of talking about how communities form.

Usually there’s a very clear reason why a community is forged. In fact, we at Twist believe there’s four reasons:

A group of  people believe in the brand.

The people in that group have a language of their own that others don’t have.

The brand gives them something.  Could be material, or not.  But there’s an acknowledgement that people in the community are getting something out of it.

There’s a passion inside every member of the community.

We believe those are the pillars of building a community.  But the issue of gay marriage brings up one more reason that’s very clear but totally unproveable:

It makes you feel better.

Watch this three minute video.  One my my all-time favorites, it’s about leadership and the importance of the first follower in forming a movement. 

But if you have three more minutes, watch it with the sound off.  It makes a great point about what it actually feels like to join a community.

President Obama cited “winds of change” for his decision and even talked about the effect his daughters had on his decision.

But sometimes you just know.

Consider the community-building power of a kidney

What’s the most powerful organ in your body? From a community-building standpoint, I’d have to say the kidney.

To back up a step:

Other than religion and the Tea Party, there may be nothing that ties people together as passionately as experiencing a medical challenge or tragedy. Breast Cancer Walks and Relays for Life are two very visible examples, but across the world, people form communities that start in sadness. So it’s a wonderful thing when they end in celebration.

And so it was with Chain 124, an incredible story of kidney donors and recipients.

You can read the New York Times story, but in a nutshell: 30 people gave kidneys to 30 people they didn’t or barely knew, but who were in danger of dying without a new kidney. Through the blindly selfless acts of the donors, kidneys were flying all over the country across four months, 17 different hospitals, and 11 states.

The donors and recipients may not be inviting each other over for drinks any time soon, but come Thanksgiving, I’m betting there will be a few extra places set at the table. I can’t think of any more powerful way to bring people together. Consider how good it would feel to participate and check out what you can do.

And the next time you say, “I’d give up a kidney to (fill in the blank),” be prepared to give up a kidney.

Join a community, win millions! (or not)

It’s true that communities can help brands become commercial powerhouses and money-making machines. But it takes investments of time and money. It must be a steady, strategic, nose-to-the-grindstone approach that rarely happens overnight.

Or not.

This is what makes Sodeta, Spain an anomaly. Because every person in that town of 70 households, except one, recently went from poverty to wealth after winning Spain’s famous Christmas Lottery. It's a great story.

Some won millions, and even the least fortunate hauled in $130,000.

Then there’s Costis Mitsotakis.

He was the only person in the village who didn’t buy a ticket. So now he lives as proof that when a community is doing something together, best to jump in while you can before you’re driving your Yugo in a parade behind a bunch of McLarens and Bentleys.

Which won’t happen in Sodeta, where life is now merely filled with more card-playing leisure, and some of the more extravagant purchases have been a patch of land and a sofa. Sounds like this community is going to stay together for some time.