The Two-Thirds Theory of Life...and Community Building

Here is a theory that applies most of life...brace yourself:

Consider three categories: 1-Fast, 2-Inexpensive, 3-Quality.  You can get any pairing of these qualities in an experience or product but you are not likely to get all three.

Example, you can get food quickly and cheaply by going to a fast food drive-through and ordering from the dollar menu, but it likely will not have quality nutrition or ingredients.  You can grow quality fruits, nuts and berries in your garden for less expensively than you can purchase them, but it will take time.  Or you can throw down a bucket load of money to have a brilliant chef cook for you on demand.  Finding the "Trifecta"--something of quality that happens fast for not much money--is exceptionally elusive.

As with so many things in life, building a close-knit or vibrant community can be done a variety of ways, but they generally fall into the three categories:

1- Fast and Inexpensive, which generally precludes high quality

2- Inexpensive and Quality, which can take time

3- Quality and Fast and you usually end up paying for the convenience.

Accepting this as our paradigm, three posts are coming your way, in this order: 1- Fast and Cheap ways to build your community, 2- Cheap and Quality ways to build your community, 3- Quality and Fast ways to build your community.  You decide which pairing best suits your circumstances, resources and goals.

Stay tuned.