Dear friends of the Communication Dojo,
We are two months into our 3-month “hike” so far. Thank you for your perseverance in intentional practice! Sarah and I (Carol) are excited to share the following news with you all.
Schedule change - This coming Monday T-group (July 4th) canceled
Both Sarah and I will spend the Fourth of July holiday with our families. So we plan to cancel the session. However, if someone else wants to host it in our absence, please announce it on our new Discord channel (see below) and email me (Carol at jxcarol2001@gmail.com).
Launching our asynchronous communication channel on Discord!
We have set up a space for you to share your reflections, useful articles, and say “hi” and “bye” on our new Discord channel. Here’s a link to join the channel (which will expire on July 6). You don’t need to install any apps if you don’t want to. It can function like a webpage. Justin made a thoughtful 8-minute video to walk you through how to use this tool.
Invitation to a new dialogue series during our summer break in August
john gieryn, Justin, and I are co-designing a dialogue series called Warm Data: People Need People in August. Our regular T-group, Circling, and Bohm Dialogue practices will be on break in August. We invite everyone in the dojo to participate in the warm data series instead. Here are more details about the event. The “sign up” button is at the end of the webpage. We intend it to be a cross-community gathering. So, please feel free to invite your friends, collaborators, and family to this weekly conversation and exploration. The more, the juicier. :)
A Happy Money Story Update
Happy Money Story (HMS) is a process that Carol and I (Sarah) have been using to decide how we allocate the financial gifts from the Communication Dojo. Our intention behind this process is to explore our inner relationship with money, greed, self worth, power, and community. We are interested in examining our “old stories” around money and making space for a regenerative culture to emerge in our young community. It is important for us to make this process transparent and we invite your responses and reflections.
A couple of weeks ago, Carol, Robin, and I played another HMS to make some decisions on what to do with the financial gifts we received in the last two “hikes” in the dojo.
For transparency reasons, here is a summary from the HMS process…
In total, we received $963 in gifts, cumulatively, over the last two hikes*.
*For those of you who are new to the lingo: a hike is a 3-month practice journey in the dojo. We have a week of harvesting sessions and sometimes a break in our practice schedule after each hike).
HMS - Decision breakdown summary
Comm Dojo Community Pool - $79 - Similar to the last few hikes, this hike, we put $79 towards this pool. In the past, we have used this pool to appreciate those who consistently participate in community building meetings (aka Keepers of the Flame meetings), e.g., paying everyone for a meal/drink and eat/drink together over zoom.
john gieryn - $100 - We’d like to appreciate john for taking the initiative in offering the warm data series in the dojo and co-designing it with Justin and Carol.
Justin Navetski - $130 - over the last few months, Justin has been a consistent contributor and adviser in our Keepers of the Flame (KoTF) community calls, helping set up our Discord channel and working many hours with john gieryn and Carol to co-design the warm data series.
Frances - $100 - Frances has been a consistent contributor and adviser in our KoTF community calls since the Dojo started. We are glad that we now can give Frances a token gift to acknowledge all of her contributions in the past.
Jenya- $50 - Jenya had been a consistent contributor and adviser in our community calls for over a year. We are glad that we now can give Jenya a token gift to acknowledge all of her contributions in the past.
Robin P - $150 - for designing, hosting, and facilitating Circling Sessions
Carol - $177 - for hosting practice sessions, writing newsletters, curating new content/practices, coordinating with individuals, other back-stage work, etc.
Sarah - $177 - for hosting practice sessions, writing newsletters, curating new content/practices, coordinating with individuals, other back-stage work, etc.
A special set of thank you’s
Our deep gratitude to Yosif, Laureen, Sandra, James, Sam, and Susan for your financial gifts over the last few months!
Finding an Europe/Asia friendly time for Keepers of the Flame community calls
Context: Here’s a document telling you what Keepers of the Flame (KoTF) meetings are about. Folks such as Sarah, Frances, Justin, and I (Carol) have been enjoying our KoTF community calls on Tuesday late afternoons (Pacific time). However, the timing doesn’t work for those who are in Europe, Asia, or other parts of the world.
Hence the proposal: We propose to have a monthly KoTF meeting that is friendly to Europe/Asia time zones. Here’s a poll to find a common time. I simply picked a random week in September (when our regular practices resume after the summer break) for us to fill in our availability. Let’s see if we can find a time that works for most people who want to participate.
Call to action: For those of you who are interested in potentially attending one or more of the KoTF meetings in the future, please put your FULL name in the poll and fill in your availability. If you have trouble filling out the poll, please simply send Carol (jxcarol2001@gmail.com) an email.
Inviting all forms of gifts to support us
🍓 If you feel moved to support our adventure and this nascent, lively community of practice, we are open to receiving your support in a myriad of ways. Whether it is honest feedback, community building skills, organizational development, consulting/facilitation opportunities ➡️ feedback & ideas form here ⬅️, a financial gift*, and/or 📢 helping spread the word, we invite you to give from a place of joy and solidarity. Our intention is to 🍓 cultivate a gifting culture in this community. A culture that helps us to see value and abundance in all forms and shapes.
💸 *If you feel moved to give us a financial gift, here are some ways/methods for you to choose from:
1. Venmo - @Sarah-Dur (Please leave a note indicating “Comm Dojo” in your gift.)
2. Paypal - PayPal.Me/SarahDurlacher (Please leave a note indicating “Comm Dojo” in your gift.)
3. Wise (previously known as Transferwise) - If you are outside of the US, please send durlacher.sarah.m@gmail.com an email and let me (Sarah) know what currency you have and I will coordinate with you
Upcoming Schedule
[Canceled] Monday, July 4th, 4:30pm Pacific Time - T-group - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86927720744
🎉 Tuesday, July 5th, 12:00pm Pacific Time - T-group - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86927720744
🎉 Friday, July 8th, 10:30am Pacific Time - Bohm Dialogue - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86927720744
⭕ Tuesday, July 12th - 11:30am-1:30am Pacific Time - Circling Offering with Robin Prospect (note these sessions will also be bi-weekly, but will run opposite weeks to the other practice spaces) - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83548083722
Keepers of the Flame (Community Calls)
Tuesday, July 5th, 4:30pm Pacific Time
➡️ Join via: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86927720744
Invite your friends and family to practice with us
Here is landing page of the Dojo:
https://www.startercultures.us/creative-offerings/communication-dojo
Ask your friends or family members to click the button at the end called “Sign up here”. We’ll send them an invitation once they fill a simply form.
In gratitude,
Carol and Sarah on behalf of Robin
Hi! Amazing time warm data 'ing with you all recently.
Could you re-send me the Discord invite? This one expired. Eager to continue putting energy towards connections with the wider Dojo and Starter Cultures 🐬