True community, once an unavoidable part of daily life, historically shaped our nervous systems, identities, and resilience through shared rhythms, roles, and relationships. As modern culture has made collective life more optional and individualized, many of the structures that once supported belonging, co-regulation, and tolerance for difference have weakened. This loss doesn’t just change society socially—it strains us psychologically, forcing individuals to carry alone what was once distributed across networks of support and accountability. Rebuilding communal spaces, especially those that include difference as well as connection, may be essential for restoring both inner stability and emotional flexibility.

Friendship is often treated as the cornerstone of mental health, yet many people with strong social lives still feel unmoored. What’s missing is not closeness, but community—spaces built around shared purpose, roles, and accountability rather than emotional intimacy. Read on to see how belonging doesn’t require liking everyone, and how participation in collective life supports resilience and well-being.