Two years later, it is a fully populated pond, with amphibians, dragonflies, tadpoles, and aquatic plants that somehow had all found their way, and, together, turned a puddle of rainwater into a thriving ecosystem. As Hutchings described this to me, I realized that human communities are like this, too. Given a bit of structure—a reason to show up, a place to care for, and time to connect—we build ecosystems of mutual support. The communities that form around movement practices, such as CrossFit, running, group exercise, and recreational sports, are perfect examples of this.
