Weak Ties Create Strong Belonging

How casual relationships have great impact

Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash

Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving Eve,

While volunteering at the Alameda County Food Bank yesterday with my son’s Scout troop, bagging oranges for the food drive, I enjoyed a delightful conversation with the other parent volunteers, even though these people are considered my “weak tie” relationships.

Weak ties are casual connections with people from other social circles, and weak ties can enrich our personal and professional lives more than we may realize.

In fact, according to a study by Stanford sociologist Mark Granovetter, people find more employment opportunities through loose connections rather than close relationships.

Granovetter explains that your weak ties connect you to new knowledge, social circles, and opportunities you wouldn’t have access to otherwise.

As we huddled around the bins of citrus, one parent shared her delicious-sounding recipe for Kabocha Squash pie, a Japanese-American alternative to pumpkin pie, and another Mom gave a helpful tip for book lovers: sign up for a county library card as well as your city library to get faster wait times for your next great read.

It felt powerful for us to come together for the greater good. Acts of service lift us out of our routines and friend groups, and can feel deeply meaningful. When the coordinators thanked us at the end of our shift for helping provide food for people in our county, it felt more moving than I expected.

So remember that reaching out to new groups and experiences benefits everyone. Try making small talk with someone new at your next Holiday gathering, join a group with a common interest, or volunteer if you are able. You never know what may come of new experiences, but you will feel more connected, which is a gift in itself.

Happy Gathering,

Jessica