Intentional Society: Giving-and-receiving report
Next orientation in two days: Click here to register for an orientation video call on Saturday, November 12th at 1:00-1:55pm Pacific Standard Time (4pm Eastern, 9pm UTC).
Last week we tried out for the very first time our (internally synthesized, not-entirely-named) community giving and receiving practice. We requested desires/wishes/needs, we offered resources, we made proposals and responded to make matches, and did a bit of meta/debrief. Both as a facilitator and as a community member, I'm feeling encouraged and excited about how the practice flowed, the real-world impact it brought, and where this will lead our culture and relationships!
(No, I'm not going to describe the structural details here. Yes, I think we'll publish a practice guide eventually. If you want more info sooner, reply and ask.)
A few top-of-mind highlights:
- multiple reports of learning/shifting, from "I didn't think I had much to offer" to realizing the diversity of possibilities
- the structure was reported as "full on" engaging, intense but not overwhelming, even with 9 people (the maximum designed-for) in a single circle together
- the thing that we normally do together (being with others on a video call) was a commonly desired-and-offered type of thing
- we stayed mostly in what seemed like pretty "safe" territory, with no proposals being declined
- a cross-state couch-surfing hosting seems like the "biggest" gift given (in conventional-monetary terms, though yes a conversation can change someone's life) and that's a neat real-world impact
- more desires/requests were matched than resources/offers (consistent with the cultural default being that giving is easier than receiving)
- we have a full spreadsheet of all the things that were verbalized, opening up possibilities for more connections outside of the event
Now I'm keen to, after doing this together, loop back around into the relational and see what else this means for us socially. Did it shift our trust or relational fabric? If we did it again tomorrow, what would change? What (if anything) did we hold back on? Where would we find the boundaries of accepting/declining proposals? Do we want to bring out more "no"s inside the practice, or put boundaries around/outside of the practice?
Cheers, James