make communal meaning

14 Apr, 2026

Prasatt's Make “vices” social reminded me of Ben's Substack post, Aliveness and where to find it. Ben started off with this:

My theory of life is just to maximise the amount of time spent in quadrant four.

Before you wonder what he's talking about, I translated Ben's matrix into this Markdown table for your convenience:

Now, read the gist of Prasatt's post. Visualize people moving from the first quadrant of Ben's matrix to the second quadrant.

What I am talking about are the small “vices” like TV and gaming. Done alone, it can be easy to go down a rabbit hole with hours blurring together.

But take that same thing and make it a point to watch TV, play a console game, or any consumption-focused activity, and do it with someone or a group of people. And there you have a social gathering.

Transmuting the bad into the fun or the good is worth your while. While acknowledging that fun or good activities contribute to a life well-lived, you can still strive for a higher mode of actuation.

Ben admits that creating together takes social risk. Many people don't find that easy to muster, myself included. People defaulting to introversion by creating alone are often anxious to send out invites. People defaulting to extroversion by consuming with friends often initiate passive gatherings.

Fran's Thinking about community shares great stories outlining failure modes of expressing extroversion. Telling over showing, treating "community as a buzzword", and passive socials succeeding promising community-building events make meaning-making difficult.

As for the introversion of creating alone, how well does that descriptor fit your hobbies? While Ben admits that doing it yourself is good, how much more enriching could your hobbies be when done with other like-minded individuals? The phrase, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts", comes to mind here.

Speaking of creating together, Ben had this to say about it:

It is easy to go months, years or lifetimes without touching quadrant four, purely by avoiding discomfort.

Riffing on Chris' Substack post, Social anxiety isn't about being liked, how much does avoiding discomfort shrink both losses and upside compared to aiming for comfort? When I say comfort, I mean a larger breadth of attention that gifts you not only more people that like you, but more people that dislike you as well. Both are part of a nutritious breakfast, keeping you visible and embracing risk in a world that rewards both.

Of co-creators you admire, how many of them followed this formula since they were at your level? How can you emulate their prior actions at that level to maximize the beauty of your life?

Speaking of beautifying life, Fran said:

Generally though, I want more of my communities to be offline. Online has its very important function. But a balance. Knowing people locally helps me feel rooted, gives me a sense of place. I like walking down my road and saying hello to people I know.

Ben's post speaks to that. His social media research shows how wild people are to watch others creating with friends while touching grass. Yet, that can incorporate capturing and circulating those moments online as an amplifier. In a way, I can see this approach meeting the balance Fran is looking for, without her having to be so online if she doesn't wish to be.

What kind of collective meaning would you like to cultivate? Whether it's a group, event, or collaborative work, I believe that you can make it happen through existing groups or assembling your own. As a springboard for you, what meaning-making have you yearned for or started building that you could socialize better? Can sending out invites or adding more substance to your endeavor be the missing puzzle piece for your communal flourishing?