IS: The core is permeable
Your invitation to explore community in Season 15
Open events this week:
- Saturday, July 6: Office Hours
- Sunday, July 7: Core Community season kickoff call*
Calls start at 1pm Pacific Time (4pm Eastern, 8pm UTC).
*Requires one prior IS contact (Office Hours, Practice Dojo, etc) and application
Okay so that asterisk there means it's a stretch to call our Core Community season kickoff an "open" event this Sunday, but I want to emphasize today is the permeability of our community membrane. There is a membrane there, yes, and its purpose is to enhance the curated qualities (relaxation, depth, intentionality) of the space it surrounds. It is not a brick wall, and we want to make it approachable and easy to pass through!
Community begins with connection. Many of you (over 100 I think) are prequalified in that we know who you are because we've already had some sort of intentional contact. If you're a stranger, well, showing up at an Office Hours would fix that right quick! Building any friendship or relationship requires some sort of move to initiate — and then a series of reciprocal deepening moves that build trust over time. Consider this newsletter a broadcast invitation, and now the initiation is up to you. 📨
Seriously — you can just reply to this email and say "hi" if even an open Office Hours call feels intimidating or there's an ugh field involved. Click, h, i, send. Try me! 👋
Entry to our Core Community (I'm liking this label more recently, as 'membership' sounds like something you'd buy) is also not restricted to once-a-quarter. We've just found that most people tend to prefer a defined entry point and a peer cohort of new arrivals. It's nice to have some buddy-similarity built-in, isn't it?
And yes, there are other (outside-the-core) facets of Intentional Society, as described last week's State of IS mail. There will be a Practice Dojo series on some Saturdays again. There's nothing better or worse about engaging in some ways and not others. Whatever degree of togetherness fits, let us become...
...the people we want to be
and doing what we value
in growing integrity relating to
each other, ourselves, and the world
(from the IS mission statement)
Cheers,
James