Tribe Building: A primer

I wanna thank War Shaman for writing this up while I slacked off and wrote programs, I finally got around to posting this since he wrote it a while back (sorry dude). This is a really good introduction to the "hows" and "whys" of building up a crew of good folks to surround yourself with, instead of hiding away online for the rest of your life. Anyways here's his work:

First, it seems pertinent that we define what a “tribe” is. It is fairly simple but can’t be simply summed up with the word “family” because of the immediate association with blood and genetic connections. This would be a false idea, since tribe can be anyone that you make it with. Your tribe is your chosen family, blood or through association. For example, my tribe, includes my wife, step daughter, my son, my mother, my father, my close group of friends that I simply refer to as my brothers at this point.

Now that we have the general idea of what a “tribe” is for you, now we can delve into the entire point of this article, essay, or whatever epithet you wish applied to this writing. How do we build and nurture our tribe, and why does it matter? Well at least I will gently touch on subjects that I will later flesh out in other pieces of writing that you guys can digest a bit better rather than flooding you with one sanctimonious tome that you will likely lose interest in fairly quickly.

Firstly, the structure of a tribe can be described like that of a castle. Your tribe is your fortress and it requires each and every block and brick in order to create its structure, each of these blocks and bricks being each member of that chosen family. But you while being an integral part of this structure, are not a piece of it at least in terms of its components but you are its architect/engineer/ artisan. Your job, your duty and your sacred charge is to lovingly maintain each brick, fix the mortar and repair any cracks that may form.

Secondly, what does this mean exactly for YOU. In short it means that you need to constantly improve, maintain yourself (can’t fix what’s broken if you are to sickly and weak to do so), and grow. The major topic covered well by Rune here is the topic of personal fitness, and while I myself am neither ignorant nor uneducated on the topic I find that whatever I write in regards to it will likely be redundant or lacking. But I will state for sake of this, being physically strong and healthy is a key component of one who wishes to build his tribe. As a matter of fact is part of the three “pillars” of focus that one should maintain. The other two are Spirit and that of the mind. These are the three essential components of what makes YOU, and if one is weak the others cannot compensate, you are weaker as a whole.

Finally, we have the attitudes that sort of govern how someone should go about dealing with the other members of their tribe. This gets tricky, because one must find and maintain a balance of both being hard and soft but at different points. Hardness to be reserved for dealing with threats to the sanctity and safety of your tribe. Softness is when you are dealing with those in your tribe who are hurting, scared, or grieving. Then there is the area in between, because sometimes there will be a member of your tribe needing reprimand but being to hard can damage them pointlessly but being soft doesn’t convey the gravity of their error. Knowing the balance and keeping it comes with well-practiced discipline and control, as well as wisdom. This is gained with time and thoughtful meditation.

This is all simply a preface, an overview of a very complex and serious topic that could and even has to a greater or lesser extent, filled tome after tome on musty library shelves. But over time I hope to flesh out each topic I have placed in front of you here. Feel free to give each one thought and consideration, so that when I do speak to you on them you can give me your thoughts. Free thinking and insightful conversation among your friends can lead to a great deal of learning.