On building community
and working remotely
I’ve recently moved to a small village in South Wales. Remote working is what made this big life change possible. (As you might imagine, there isn’t exactly a thriving design scene in rural Welsh villages…)
There’s so much I enjoy about remote working. It opens up the companies you can work for, the places you can live, and gives you time back to squeeze in a run or a swim or even just get on top of household chores, so you don’t have to spend your weekend doing laundry.
But it can be isolating. With nothing to force you out of the house, it’s all too easy to get to Friday and realise your IRL human interaction has been… scarily low. And I’m sure we’re all well aware from lockdown days, that’s not good for your mental health!
So lately, I’ve been thinking about how to build community, partly for my sanity, and partly to feel more rooted in this new place I call home.
At first, the idea felt overwhelming. It made me think of friendships and work relationships that had taken years to build… I have been going to design events and co-working spaces to try and replicate this as a freelancer, but I know that kind of deep connection takes time.
What’s helped is realising that community doesn’t always have to mean something big or long-term. It can be found in small, everyday moments. And these moments are helping to stitch me into the fabric of this place.
Some examples..
A neighbour we hadn’t met knocked on the door to let us know we had a flat tyre. We thanked them and had a lovely chat.
I popped to the local garage during a break between meetings and chatted to the owner while he fixed it.
Our postman recognised we’d just moved in and asked how we were settling.
I saw a beautician’s flyer in the corner shop, and a few days later, I was sitting in her living room on my lunch break, getting my nails done and chatting about everything and nothing.
On a morning walk to the beach, I had a passing encounter with three older women on their way for a swim together. It was so lovely and made me weirdly emotional… maybe because I’m reading The Tidal Year at the moment, a memoir about wild swimming, female friendship and grief, it’s really beautiful.
One sunny lunch break, we spent ages in our garden chatting to our neighbour over the fence. They’re a keen gardener and gave us loads of tips (we’re clueless).
I wandered over to the local library one afternoon, signed up for a card, and had a nice interaction with the friendly librarian.
I was worried that moving to a smaller place would make me feel isolated. But now I wonder if smaller communities actually invite more of these everyday connections. People seem less rushed. More open to a chat. More likely to notice someone new.
I still have days where I definitely don’t connect with enough real humans… and those are always the days I feel the most drained. But I now know that even a small chat with a stranger can do a lot.
How do you build community whilst working remotely?