Upcoming events:

• Friday Nov 14: IS Connection Call
• Saturday Nov 15: Being With It All (session 1 of 3)
• Sunday Nov 16: Community Hub call 20.7
• Tuesday Nov 18: 2ndRen: The Oasis
• Tuesday Nov 25: Second Renaissance Fair

Last week's newsletter was "Reclaiming ambition" and the Community Hub session title was "Archipelago".

Being With It All this Saturday! Register here

Life is a lot sometimes, isn't it? Everything happens so much. Everything everywhere all at once. Atrocities around the world, violence in our neighborhood, all the way to frailties of our bodies. Sacredness weaves its way through the suffering, and joy, yet we often find numbing and distraction to be easier than facing the extremes.

There's a secret to peace in the midst of everything: to let it be. To be with it all, we welcome the reality of what is, the is-ness of what is true — and we welcome our own experience, without pushing away or clinging. When we practice being, together, we find our capacity expanding. Fear recedes. Turbulence calms. Our hearts beat on, grounding our connection to life.

Being With It All is a simple radical practice of acceptance kindled in the shared space between our open hearts.

Three sessions this season: November 15th, November 29th, and December 13th

To add a bit of personal commentary after the above blurb:

I'm looking forward to inhabiting this delicious flavor of space with you soon. We got some strong appreciation from 2024 participants in this practice, and to me it just really hits the essence of... heart-expanding, I'd call it.

If you haven't experienced this, it might seem like deciding to "be at peace with what is" is not a thing one can just choose to do: It's a bit like being told to get out of the car when we don't know we have legs. And you're right, it's not a decision you can make — that's not the way it happens. But a choice can lead you there. A step, a stance, a path that we can walk together and reflect for each other.

In other news, I'm getting energized and excited for 2026, and to enter a new era both inside and outside of IS!

Cheers,
James