Project #1: I want to move to a city with a crew (1/4 interested collaborators)
In the next few posts, I’ll outline a few ideas that I’d like to pursue if I can gather the proper collaborators.
These represent a few things for me:
- The first time I’ve articulated a few goals/dreams/ideas
- Stepping into things that feel scary/impossible
- A stab at this “manifesting” thing
I generally operate opportunistically, which is how I intend to approach these initiatives. If/when enough people have expressed interest in one, I’ll start setting it in motion. I wouldn’t expect to “meet quota” for any of these for at least weeks/months, if not years/ever.
If any of these resonate with you or anyone you know, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Easiest might be Twitter @justavagrant_
Project 1: Move Somewhere to Collectively Terraform/Play with/Construct Social Reality
I’m looking for a crew of individuals (3 or 4 + me) to move somewhere together with the intention of creating networks/spaces in which trust, vulnerability, healing, connection, and fun can proliferate, which doesn’t have a word for it, so for now I’ll refer to it as “the community” (we can name it together!). I don’t claim to know how best to do this, though I have some ideas that I think are pretty good. Ultimately, we would be equal co-creators and collaborators on everything but the high level goal (rather, that’s the goal that I’m interested in, so if you don’t like it, go do your own manifesting! 😝).
Having said that, here’s the playbook that I’m proposing (everything from here on out is hypothesized and up for debate):
First, we’d join/start lots of communities. One’s that I would try to get involved with:
- Couchsurfing
- TPOT
- Authentic relating
- Effective altruism
- Metamodernism/politics
- Beach volleyball
- Gardening
- Dancing (bachata?)
- Art (poetry?)
- Band
Second, we’d increase the density of trust/connection/etc. in these groups
Third, we’d start mixing individuals in contexts like:
- 2 hour cocktail party
- Purpose driven events (grief ritual, discussions around topics (Interintellect salons?), ???)
- Form crews
- Weekend trips
Finally, we would explicitly invite people into “the community”. I think trust is a prerequisite for “the community”to be effective, and trust takes time to build, which is another way of saying proof of work. Which is why I think it makes sense to explicitly bring people in that have both explicitly opted in to shared intentions, and have demonstrably acted accordingly. People that aren’t on board can ruin the vibe for everyone.
This is where I’m haziest, but some ideas for the “social contract” within “the community”:
- Own our own experience
- Partnership relationships
- Willing to put time/effort into relationships and perpetuating “the community”
- Interior curiosity
- Pro social behavior norms (cooperating rather than defecting)
I’m fairly location agnostic for this project. I’d be down to go anywhere as long as the crew was unanimously in favor. I imagine this would be easier in more densely populated places though (AKA cities, “Great Contexts”). If abroad, it’d be important to me that there was at least some element of integration/respect/celebration of/with local culture.
I’m also fairly flexible on the time frame, and down to do whatever the crew agreed upon. I imagine less than 3 months wouldn’t be enough time to make much progress. I think it would be difficult for me to commit to more than 2–3 years right out the gate, though obviously I’d be open to reevaluation as time went on.
I’d love the crew to work together in a self managed way. That is, I don’t want to be a manager, and I don’t want to be managed. Leadership is both critical and a burden. I’d love to follow teal organization principles, like the advice process, and collaborate with people that can speak up, listen with compassion, self direct, etc.
You might be a good collaborator for this project if the following describes you:
- Experience bringing people together
- Diverse interests/social circles
- Interest/comfort with playing with social norms/reality
- Desire to collaborate
- Emotional competence (awareness, communication, etc.)
- Interest/capacity in collaborating in a self organized fashion
- Fun/playful
- Commitment to learning and growing
Having said all of this, if you or anyone you know are interested in collaborating on terraforming and experimenting with some social fabric to create spaces/networks with trust, belonging, love and all that good stuff, please reach out!!!
Some resources (that I would love to discuss!!!):
- http://www.visakanv.com/blog/communities/
- https://progressforum.org/posts/b5JtEGtHzNkYQuwNj/on-great-contexts-vs-great-groups
Other Projects
Project #2 — Lord of the Rings Themed Trip
Project #3 — Collective 30th Birthday Event
