Join or Die - John Crowley

“If we’re not in community with other people, it’s much easier to throw rocks at each other.” - John Crowley, Aqus Community Foundation.

Perhaps you’ve had the opportunity to travel to England or Ireland and experienced it first hand. You step inside a darkly lit room, hard wood paneling defines the space. You step up to the bar, littered with glasses, beer taps and warm bodies waiting to be served. The walls are filled with dozens of yellowing photographs, framed football kits and requisite Guinness signs. Around you, a couple dozen unfamiliar friendly faces, but. strangers, the saying goes, are just friends you haven’t met yet. The match is on, conversation reverberates in the air, and before you know it, people start singing. 

“I worked in my father’s pub when I was a kid, “ says John Crowley, a native of Dublin, Ireland. “I really fell in love with it —with the community aspect of it, and I missed it when I got here.” When he emigrated to the United States, it was one of the things he longed for, but no matter where he looked, he couldn’t seem to find. Sure, there were great bars and restaurants —he was in the San Francisco Bay Area after all, but he couldn’t find the sense of community reminiscent of his formative years. 

Twenty five years ago, Crowley read Bowling Alone, and it changed his life. The book was about the power of social connection, asking the question, Where is our social capital? Where are the networks in community that bind it together and make is stronger? Unable to find it in his new home, he went about trying to create it. He invited people to join him in conversation at a local restaurant. The topic? What was the last postcard you received? 

That night, he waited to see what would happen. A couple of new acquaintances arrived. As they sat and chatted, a few others joined. And then a few more.  A social quorum emerged., and as they sat and chatted, the threads of community began to emerge. The rest, as they say, is history.

From the seeds of those early conversations, to a lifetime of dedication to building social connection, John Crowley has dedicated his life to expanding social capital. Along with British American business partner Lesley McCullaugh, he is the the owner of Aqus Cafe and founder of Aqus Community Foundation, a nonprofit focused on building a community connection that provides a sense of belonging and encourages people to invest in where they live.

You can learn more about John Crowley and Aqus Community Foundation here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

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To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

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