Last week there was a minor flurry in one of our group chats about a dream that Beth had had. In it, she shared, a bunch of Company folk were all living in a house together and each person was doing something endearingly specific to them, like painting, tuning an instrument, baking, dancing, and chopping wood. Summarizing it, she wrote:

It was pure chaos. And also made my heart fill with joy, thinking that this is SO US. This is The Company—our community. We were all doing everything, and we were all doing it together. 🥹 It was a very good dream!! ❤️

After some general fawning over how nice this all sounded, and how great we all are, the chat moved on to reminders that co-housing is an actual real thing that some of us have been talking about for a while, and next, to the idea—more feasibly—that we should plan some kind of group trip. A committee was then formed to discuss the next steps on what might be called “Beth’s dream vacation” or, more on-brand, “The Company Retreat”.

On the surface this was already a very sweet idea to me. I am both the de jure and de facto documentarian of this community, lucky to have the responsibility and compulsion to spotlight all the good times we have here. I love this place, and I love these people. It’d be impossible not to, spending this much time paying this much attention.

But the thing that got me teary-eyed this time was the realization that Beth’s dream, and the excitement of a trip, felt so familiar to me.

You have heard, perhaps, that after graduating from college in a super close-knit religious community, Livvy and I moved to Boston and were immediately adrift and comparatively friendless. In that moment, all of our loved ones were then scattered across the country, if not the globe. And for years I would have dreams, sleeping and waking, that all my loved ones were in the same place again. And for years the only times we’d all be back together again involved coordinated travel: holidays, birthday trips, weddings, and anniversaries. This is still true, to some extent. Our family is back in Michigan, Camden in Spain, Steve in D.C., Malika and Jason in New York, Daisy in Virginia. And every once in a while I have a dream in which I drift from one room into another and everyone I love is there, and it feels exactly like how I want home to feel.

But this is what got me about Beth’s dream: For a period in my life, the majority of people I deeply cared about lived elsewhere. And now, by some great fortune, the majority of people I deeply care about live here, in the same city. They are friends with each other, and hang out in the same rooms and parks and group chats. This was a dream to me once. And sometimes now, when we have new dreams of good times, they don’t so much seem like dreams as they do memories.

And what a wonder—to have what you dreamt of, to dream of what you already have; to experience a commonplace delight, a quotidian ecstasy, and to know that it is just Tuesday.

—Ivan

Happenings

This week:

Creative Writing Workshop: Witness, Monday, March 2

(Once again I am sending this after this occurred. But it was great! Catch the next one.)

Once again: 90 minutes of lightly directed writing around a theme. For the third workshop, the theme is Witness.

The theme will be explored through a series of prompts, and we’ll have progressively more time to respond to each. At the end of the night, we’ll have the chance (though not the requirement) to share.

Note that this workshop is not for feedback or editing—the purpose is to generate new writing.

Bring yourself and something to write with.

$10, free for members

Be an observant bear →

Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, March 4

The Company is about combining creative work with good friendships. Make an appointment with your side project this (or any) Wednesday at a Worknight, where we oscillate between enforced, focused, quiet time and optional chatty social time.

$5, free for Company and Moonlight members

Work together →

PowerPoint Party No. 36, Saturday, March 7

Twelve people giving 7-minute presentations about whatever they’re currently into. At past parties, people have presented about journaling, skydiving, the inside of Dan’s brain, and fasteners. It’s a wide mix.

It’s a nerdy and sincere crowd that cares a lot, and we’ve met some of our favorite people at these.

Want to present? We’ve got a waiting list (and your chances are awful!). Want to just show up and meet interesting people and learn about what’s fascinating them lately? That’s great too. Bring a friend, or come alone and make a friend.

$10, free for members and presenters

Make a point of coming →

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Also coming up: Glint: Spill (March 17), In the Making (March 26), Cuppa’s 1-Year Anniversary Party! (March 28)

Nostalgia

Do you remember Daliah’s first workday? How we took recess at the river and talked about careers and media and screen time? How she and Adam swapped notes on parenthood?

Or the discussion of The Anxious Generation at Mary Ann’s Book Club? How so many of us had so much experience with the topic? How back then we were zoomers and influencers and teachers and thinkers, and how we said that, were we to have kids, we’d agree to the pact? Do you remember Alex reading to us about “the fruits of contemplation”? And how we went around and shared our cell-phone history? How Lizzie told the most adorable story of calling her dad’s boss?

Do you remember the Tuesday when Livvy and I were away? How, online, there was all the sweet chatter about Beth’s dream, and Madeleine and other outsiders staged a coup to get even more people to be outsiders? While in person the two of you chatted? How Alex and Ryan showed up, and you had lunch and talked about the upcoming performance review? That you talked about the next Glint theme, and social media? Simon’s headshot request, and Lizzie standing on a chair to fulfill it? The windy recess that brought bro Alex back?

Do you remember the Wednesday when Adam and Mark talked about nonprofit boards? And Jim talked about his espresso machine project? And you talked about denhac? Or the boys-only recess, and how you learned a little bit more about Adam’s dayjob? The Worknight? Beth’s admiration of Jacob’s project? Alex’s dutiful reporting of the evening?

Or the day we returned? How, after possibly hundreds of thousands of hugs, we finally figured out a new method and industrialized hugging? That we toyed with calling it the Company Hug Algorithm? How, after some early internal testing, Allyson was our very first user?

Do you remember setting up for In the Making? How we saw cyanotypes and websites and boops and loops, and how shocked we were to see that Dan designed this, and that, and that too? How we learned about a co-op, and new machinations, and heard about family cooking?

Or the day with Lauren T.’s hug tally tracker, and the deliberation about whether one hug counts as two? How Livvy and I tracked zero hugs that day?

And do you remember (how could you anyone forget?) the first ever Annual Performance Review? How some of us showed up early to set up? How we turned the Kissing room into a green room, and tested the tech? That we changed into our fancy clothes, and Jessica P. did Alex’s hair before the show? How Madeleine was still on crutches back then, and still co-emceed the show?

Do you remember the violin, the drawing, the duet, the comedy, the intensity of excitement we had to see a Rubik’s Cube solved in front of our eyes, the singing, the kazoos, and the parable of time? How deftly the spotlight was managed throughout? How we all took a bow at the end?

Do you remember how we made it out to bartaco, and spread across three tables? How Dan and Michelle appeared, and like co-pastors they went table to table greeting their flock?

That as we gathered to leave we made use of our new Company Hug Algorithm, and it was so efficient? How we wondered what it looked like to everyone sitting inside?

Bureaucratic Minutiae

• Thanks to Kent for noticing our sneakily intermittently cycling toilet and to Marcia for relaying such and to Jessica S. for suggesting that Jim look at it and to Alex for fixing it.

• Thanks to Alex and Ryan for replacing the toner on The Printer, and to Mark for alerting us to its need for replacing.

• Mary Ann’s Book Club gave The Anxious Generation a collective rating of 4.2 stars. Mary Ann’s Book Club is also now collecting and distributing notes from our discussion.

• At Worknight: Jacob cleared Japanese flashcards; Beth came up with a goals list and came up with questions for her mortgage broker; Jaime edited one article and five pages; Ryan worked on his homework; Alex read 30 pages and transcribed meeting notes; Andrew identified food containers and clothes to procure; Hayley finished up PowerPoint slides and sourced spelling bee words; Lizzie wrote one of her penpals back; and Jim adapted motor mounts.

• At In the Making: Lizzie exposed the process behind an upcoming self portrait, Gus took us on a scroll through his personal website, Lauren T. trained us to see the modification of cat behavior as creative, Ivan demoed unpromising tests for a live-looping trumpet performance, Dan unveiled the beginnings of a gargantuan personal design archive, Gabby shared the work of sharing the work of starting an artist’s co-op, Jim detailed the process of modifying another espresso machine, and Michelle pondered about continuing a culinary legacy.

• At the first Annual Performance Review, the committee reviewed seven performances. Results follow:

  • Unsatisfactory - 0 performers

  • Needs improvement - 0 performers

  • Meets expectations - 0 performers

  • Exceeds expectations - 9 performers (Mary Ann, Gus, Lizzie, Felicity, Ivan, Jessica S., Alex, Jessica P., Ellen)

  • Sets a new standard - 0 performers

• Finally, a reminder that The Company is a member-supported gathering place, and if you know any of us, you’re welcome to pop in any time for free (outside of events). If you know that one of us is here and you’d like to come by, reach out and we can let you in.

Photos

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This issue of Paperwork was written by Ivan with additional reporting from Jessica S., Lizzie, and Alex, and was shot by Ivan, Lizzie, and Dan. Photo selection and editing by Ivan and Alex. Editorial support was provided by Livvy. This issue, and The Company itself, was made possible by the support of our members, Halie, Drew J., Justin, Mason, José, Mary Ann, Trevr, Allyson, Lizzie, Elijah, Michelle, Jim, Jacob, Mark, Sabrina, Beth, Dani, Chris, Will, Marcia, Rebeca, Sarah, Alex, Jessica P., Jessica S., Ben, Sam Ad., Christof, Ryan, Lauren T., Madeleine, Simon, Adam B., Gus, Lauren S., and Earl.

Do you know anyone in the Denver area who might be looking for creative community? Feel free to forward this email along to them. Everyone loves Paperwork.

😘