I’m not in show business because I don’t have to go to the meetings, I’m just not a part of it, I don’t belong to it. When you “belong” to something. You want to think about that word, “belong.” People should think about that: it means they own you. If you belong to something it owns you, and I just don’t care for that. I like spinning out here like one of those subatomic particles that they can’t quite pin down.
– George Carlin
There’s a lot of truth in this. At the most basic level, truly belonging to anything means you have to invest time into it. If you’re part of the local Garden Club, you’ve got to attend the monthly meeting. If you’re in the alumni association, you’ve got to help raise money, or attend events. If you don’t invest the required amount of time, they can kick you out. That’s a form of ownership.
For precisely this reason, I’ve limited the things I belong to. I haven’t wanted to give up my time to groups or organizations, because I didn’t want to owe them my time. I didn’t want to be owned. But, this fear extended to things that probably would have been really beneficial to me. How many people have I not gotten the chance to meet? How many relationships have I failed to build? How many opportunities did I miss?
The best solution is probably to start your own clubs or organizations. If something’s going to own you, maybe it’s best to own it. The problem with this is that our time, energy, and expertise is limited. If you don’t know anything about photography, starting your own club as a way to learn and meet others seems like a much bigger cost than just committing an hour of your time once a week to the local club. This seems like the best option for stuff you’re already really committed to, and have some expertise in.
For that other stuff, I’ve found that you just have to suck it up and get owned. If you choose the right organizations, the costs of giving up some of your ownership are outweighed by the benefits that belonging provides. And if they aren’t, you can always quit.
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