how do you build community as a solo practitioner? genuinely asking

so I've been practicing on my own for about 3 years now - mostly tarot, some meditation, a bit of astrology - and I love it honestly. the solitary path just feels right for me.

but sometimes I wonder if I'm missing something by not having people to talk to about this stuff??

my friends are supportive but they don't really get it. and I've had mixed luck with local groups - one felt super gatekeep-y, another was lovely but they met at a time I couldn't make.

so I'm curious: how do you all handle this? do you feel like community is necessary for growth or can you do just as well on your own? and if you DO have a community, how did you find it / build it?

I feel like there's no one right answer here but genuinely want to hear what's worked for people

omg this is literally me rn. I've been solo for two years and I go back and forth on this constantly

some weeks I'm totally fine, other weeks I wish I had someone to text like 'ok I pulled the death card again what is happening'

honestly forums like this have helped a lot more than I expected

This is such a beautiful question and I think about it a lot too.

From what I've seen over the years - community can accelerate growth, but only the RIGHT community. A bad fit can actually slow you down or make you doubt yourself more than going solo would.

Some thoughts on what's worked for people I know:

Online spaces (like this one!) where you can dip in when you want and disappear when you need to go inward
Finding one or two people for a 'spiritual pen pal' kind of thing rather than a whole group
Book clubs focused on a specific topic - lower commitment, still connective

The solo path is genuinely powerful. You develop your own relationship with the practice without absorbing other people's frameworks before you've found your own. Trust that.

I found my people by accident honestly - started commenting on a tarot instagram and got into DMs with two people who are now like my closest friends for this stuff

didn't set out to 'build community' just started engaging authentically and it happened

maybe lower the stakes on it? like don't go looking for A Community, just... talk to people

the gatekeep-y group thing is SO real. walked away from one of those and honestly my practice got better because I stopped second-guessing everything against their opinions

I think some people need community to grow and some people are genuinely wired for solo work. neither is wrong

these replies are making me feel so much better honestly

@CosmicDreamer that's a really good reframe - stop looking for THE community and just start connecting. gonna try that

and yeah the gatekeep situation was rough but I came out of it knowing my practice was mine, which I think was the lesson lol

honestly this resonates so much. I practiced completely solo for like 4 years and I didn't feel like I was missing anything... until I sort of accidentally stumbled into a discord server for tarot people and it changed things for me in a low-key way.

it's not like I became dependent on it or anything. I still do all my actual practice alone. but having somewhere to share a weird pull or ask "does this combo make sense" without getting blank stares from my friends?? that was the piece I didn't know I was missing.

so I think the answer for me is: community isn't necessary for growth, but it IS nice to have one small corner of the internet where people just... get it. you don't have to be all-in on a group. even lurking a space like this one can be enough sometimes.

coming back to say the discord thing someone mentioned in a different thread actually worked out for me too - not a huge commitment, just somewhere to pop in when I want. feeling a lot less like I'm missing something now, so thank you all for this

just found this searching for basically the exact same question. the reframe about not looking for THE community and just connecting authentically is gonna stick with me. thank you for asking this

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how do you build community as a solo practitioner? genuinely asking

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