The two things I really love about hosting parties are creating a beautiful and simple backdrop for my guests to enjoy, and watching them connect and create community.

So, when I recently read Trevor Noah’s article “Let’s not be divided. Divided People are easier to Rule”, I found myself wondering about the relationship between his thesis on divided America, and my love of bringing people together in my home for a party.

In the article he posits, “America, I’ve found, doesn’t like nuance. ……It’s us versus them. …..This national mentality is fueled by the hysteria of a 24-hour news cycle, by the ideological silos of social media and by the structure of the country’s politics.”

Of particular interest to me were his comments about growing up as a bi-racial child under South Africa’s Apartheid Rule.  He found himself always in the middle, neither black or white. And, as a result of his life experience, he believes that life happens in the middle, not at the extremes.

When I host a party, I know that we humans instinctively look for ways to build bridges and connect with each other.

It seems illogical but, creating connection is not based on whether you’ve known a person for a lifetime or have just met them, or whether you share the same politics, religion etc., etc., or not.

What naturally creates a sense of connection is the feeling that you’ve been heard. Note, I DIDN’T say agreed with!

At the end of the day, we all just want to feel like we matter to each other.

Entertaining is powerful because it brings people together and it facilitates creating community in your “Local” world. And that feeling of community can create a ripple effect and spread to our “Global World”. 

So I say you can never be too rich, too thin, too sure, or have too many parties because spreading the fairy dust of community is what we all need now at home and around the world.

Now, on to the party!