Intentional Society: The next expansion of IS self-identity
<Meta status: My personal conviction has solidified directionally in vision-space. Big questions remain. This is an echolocation broadcast, bouncing it outward and seeing what reflects back. Vibe/gut/thought reactions invited!>
Intentional Society is almost ready for an identity shift. A developmental transition, where what it identifies as will shift to something that it has. (This "is a" to "has a" shift is also called the "subject to object shift" in adult development psychology, used in stage theory models for individual development. It doesn't feel like much of an anthropomorphic stretch to fit the concept of self-identity and "how something conceives of itself" to an organization, thought there's some transitivity behind the construct.)
Intentional Society currently is, basically, a weekly virtual gathering of relating and exploring in service of self-led personal growth. That will start to become something that IS has, but which does not fully define the identity of IS or what it means to be a member of IS. Its self-identity will grow more expansive, with more complexity and variety of activity held within the bounds of its broadening tent.
Currently:
members are active participants who frequently attend the general sessions, engaging in the relational practices and explorations and building relationships
Future:
members are those who mutually hold intentions of expanding their awareness, increasing their integrity, and growing their complexity to meet the challenges of their environment.
This doesn't go all the way to "Intentional Society is a state of mind" but it broadens the range of "in" relationships beyond "you must show up at this specific time for this amount of time and learn and contribute in this specific way." It shifts the focus from "we do thing X" toward "we value outcome Y." The general sessions will remain the beating heart of Intentional Society, pumping the lifeblood of connection and alignment and belonging and energy through the society. But this makes space for other boats on other voyages, different forms of community creation and collaboration. Variety in expression, unified by our shared vision (across I, We, World fractal scopes).
Will this new identity be legible enough from the outside? Will insiders be able to make the shift mentally? Will a lightened/expanded concept of membership retain enough meaning? I feel a "yes" in myself, but of course the proof of that pudding will be in the eating. The "what does it mean to belong" question is big and juicy and is too much for me, even if I wanted to form it all myself. We may hash this out, collective cocreation, in Season 7 — starting July 10th, by the way.
Cheers, James