our third space
Gatherings crackle and flourish when real thought goes into them, when (often invisible) structure is baked into them, and when a host has the curiosity, willingness, and generosity of spirit to try.
Priya Parker • The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters
I like to think of gardening metaphors, like growing trust. You have to water it—not too much, not too little. And things will always grow in different directions and with different outcomes than you’re expecting, but that’s okay.
Willa Köerner • On growing a cooperative like you’d grow a garden
“Questions are houses. As you think about the doorknob of a group conversation, you’re helping others open this door, and creating the house they live in together for a moment in time.”
Larry (@thackerand)
Good communities incubate innovation and creativity – think of the salons in France where intellectuals used to meet to discuss the latest ideas; the Olympia Academy; la Bande de Picasso. A feeling of belonging allows people to be authentic, to move from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset, and to take risks knowing that they have people to... See more
Amanda Ngo • Community-building — amanda ngo
There are a lot of organizational structures and lived practices embedded in our bodies that we just enact by default. But through explicit facilitation practices or when we make meetings happen in a certain way, that helps change these conditioned ways of operating. In the process of learning to work this way, what really helps is, again, trust.... See more
Willa Köerner • On growing a cooperative like you’d grow a garden
Most purposes for gatherings feel worthy and respectable but are also basic and bland: “We’re hosting a welcome dinner so that our new colleague feels comfortable in our tight-knit group,” or “I’m throwing a birthday party to look back on the year.” These are purposes, but they fail at the test for a meaningful reason for coming together: Does it
... See morePriya Parker • The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters
“I think the reason there’s such good juicy kitchen gossip, and so much connection happens in the kitchen, is because you are usually kind of doing something repetitive, and that releases something in your mind that creates a space that doesn’t just reside in the brain, but also is something that becomes part of the body. And how often do we do... See more
Notes & Highlights for How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong
communities function best and are most durable when they’re helping members to be more successful in some way in a connected and dynamic world.