Because of my connection with Danielle Johnson, I first became aware of Limicon 2024 in its early planning stage back in June, 2023. When it arrived, of course I registered. I immediately felt at home and I was able to identify 31 connections. And I saw many familiar faces. All things considered, the conference exceeded my expectations.
By the end of the conference, 308 people had registered.
There were 147 events. I attended 15 and saw several more that interested me. Each attendee will have had there own unique experience of Limicon 2024 and I will share mine.
March 6
Opening Ceremony - Layman Pascal, Bruce Alderman
For me, the opening message by Layman Pascal was inspiring. He is a gifted orator, a rarity. And he has a galaxy brain and delivers great content.
March 7
The Network Map - Sensemaking
Host: Naryan Wong
Description:
We've made a map together, but what does it all mean?
Join the architect of the map (Naryan) in a intro to network mapping, followed by collaborative sensemaking. Learn to navigate the map, then use it to answer questions about the community and what possibilities lie within!
new tools... mapping kumu miro board
New tools can quickly overwhelm me. However, I see great potential for the mapping and connection tools. But I did not find the miro board easy nor useful and mostly avoided it.
March 8
Storysharing: Personal stories of transitions to Game B
Hosts: Mike Rabin and Danielle Johnson
Description: Come introduce yourself to the Limicon community and share your story. What was the path that brought you here? What have been your biggest challenges and learnings along the way? How does your story meet us in the present moment? We look forward to meeting you, doing a bit of journaling, and sharing our stories.
I shared my story and enjoyed what I heard from others. In my opinion, sharing our stories is important work that everyone can do. Of note is the fact that every story is unique but yet contributes to coherence.
March 9
The role highly sensitive folks play in the human species. Are we flourishing in the ways that truly allow us to grow, develop, and extend our capacities out to others?
Host: Tracy Cooper, PhD
Description: Insights into who highly sensitive people (HSPs) are, the trait, and its potentialities. From a Limicon perspective, what are we HSPs doing to more fully realize our potential and contribute to community, collaboration, and the higher aspirations of the human spirit? Interactive discussions, breakout group private discussions, if group size warrants it. Open forum by and for HSPs, HSS/HSPs, HSW, HSP people of color, HS men, and HS Creatives.
Contact: drtracycooper.org, sensitivemenrising.org
As an HSP myself, I greatly appreciated this event. And I was pleased to see some other men in attendance. The presenter and the content were both very good.
March 14
Story Sharing-Personal Stories About Spiritual Journeys
Host: John Stokdijk and Danielle Johnson
Description: We will share personal stories about our spiritual journeys with the group. Depending on how many people are in attendance, we will share in the larger group or breakout rooms.
I was pleased to be invited by Danielle to co-host this event. However, by the end of the event, I was somewhat disappointed. In the second breakout room there was one attendee with very low energy and it took considerable effort to keep a conversation going, no flow at all. And I was disappointed by what seemed like a lack of interest in my story. I quickly got over that feeling but usually my cult experience generates more interest so I do not know what to make of this.
March 16
This is the Way?
Host: James Baker
Description: Perhaps we already know The Way forward? The way to seed and spread the culture that can omni-win the games, handle the metacrisis, and usher us through the time between worlds to the next attractor of thriving humans and humanity for future generations... Let's find out! James (from Intentional Society) will bring a list of crucial components of the vision-as-IS-sees-it, in Likert-survey form to gather areas of agreement and disagreement. (No prep work required, but) Bring your opinions! We'll explore the differences and similarities in our theories-of-change, and end by zooming out to looking at what kinds of actions this Liminal Web scene could agree and ally on!
I first met James Baker at The Stoa Discord a few years ago. Our paths have crossed several times since and he always impresses me in spite of, or perhaps because of, his low-key style. But in this event I saw some brilliance.
With his permission, I am sharing his This is The Way? survey which has 39 questions. This is a very good piece of work by James and I hope he builds on this somehow. For me, something in these questions points toward something, perhaps A Liminal Manifesto.
James hosts the Intentional Society.
March 21
The Living Question with Peter Limberg and friends @ The Stoa:
Description: A few philosophers recently wrote the second-shortest paper in the discipline, containing the following question:
Can a good philosophical contribution be made just by asking a question?
The question was followed by a blank page. Clever. The answer, of course, is yes. If reasoning is the lifeblood of philosophy, a question is the heart that pumps it, enlivening an inquiry and deepening one’s sense of wonder.
Just like some questions are bad and some are good, some questions are meant to be answered with efficiency, and some are meant to be lived with. I am interested in the latter, as it is a neglected practice. A question need not be associated with an impulse to answer it, with neediness for clarity and a flexing of certainty. Just stay with the mystery for a while, or provide what James Rutt calls the “hero answer”—I don’t know. And one cannot say those words with faux humility; they really need to feel them and be in a state of unknowingness, or what philosophers call “aporia.”
True philosophizing necessitates such a state, a state that demands questions act as aporia bombs, compelling one to pause. This places the mind in a pretzel-like contortion and grounds one in their body, prompting them to feel all that is bubbling forth. A “living question” is a question one lives with without forcing an answer. One can stay with a question, enjoy its contours, taste its potential, and be rightfully afraid of all the rabbit holes it presents. While they might not always be articulable, there is a living question alive at the start of all good philosophical inquiries.
The sophists (or wordcels, to use current internet vernacular), always ready to jump at the chance to sound smart, will attempt to steamroll through living questions, forcing out an answer. However, if they are truly handling an aporia bomb, they will be quickly revealed because what comes out of their mouth is reasonable-sounding nothingness or “pseudo-profound bullshit”—assertions that appear deep at first glance but are, in reality, vacuous statements devoid of any true meaning or value.
The good news is the age of wordcel supremacy is coming to an end. With the semantic apocalypse on the horizon - where words are untethered from their meaning en masse - sophists will have no place to hide. New “languages,” where one only speaks with words sourced from a deeply attuned body, are being rediscovered. When speaking in this way, one connects with the unknown, seeing more mystery than any pretentious knowings ever can. When one asks a question from this place, and learns to live with it, no answer will be needed.
In truth, a living question will expose you, reveal you, and remind you how mysterious life is. The best questions are meant to be lived with, not answered.
What is your living question?
Prior to the event, Peter shared more information with those of us who had registered for it. He posed a specific living question and he had a special guest who intigued me. However, I will say no more until more is shared publicly but this is a story that I hope to follow.
The living question for the event was How do we get right with technology?
Most sessions at Limicon 2024 seem to draw 15 to 17 participants. Attendance at this one peaked at 73, no surprise to me. Several expressed enthusiasm for The Stoa being back.
Noteworthy, this event occured on the fourth anniversary of the launch of The Stoa. But I became aware of Peter and began following is work even earlier, back in 2019. Currently I follow Less Foolish on Substack.
A few days after the event, Peter shared the following on Substack:
I’ll be starting full-time as a Philosopher-in-Residence at Daylight Computers on April Fools' Day.
At the Limicon event, two people from Daylight Computers shared their stories and their technology. I hope to follow the story and be a cheerleader for their project. Also shared with us was a Living Manifesto and a request: By choosing to read this manifesto, you enter into a spiritual pact of confidentiality, committing to safeguard these words in your heart until they can be disclosed publicly, if ever. I commented privately on the manifesto to Peter and expressed the hope that it will be shared in the public domain.
March 24
Liminal Belonging: An Exploratory Group Discussion
Host: Joe Lightfoot
Description: Following on from our group discussion around Liminal Loneliness I'd like to explore together the concept of Liminal Belonging. What is it? Are we feeling it? What might it look like for us? And how might we traverse such a path? I'll be framing the topic at the start and then facilitating a guided discussion along these lines for the remainder of the session.
Website: www.joelightfoot.org
This event was very meaningful for me. In November, 2021 I read Joe's article, The Liminal Web: Mapping An Emergent Subculture Of Sensemakers, Meta-Theorists & Systems Poets, which inspired me with hope. I shared his dream.
A Liminal Movement - And finally, while I'm dreaming, over time I’d like to see a broader movement coalesce around Liminal ideals and start to influence the political landscape by applying the kinds of ideas found in the work of Indra Adnan and Hanzi Frienacht. And if I was to get really wild for a moment I could even one day envisage the formation of a kind of Solarpunk inspired, blockchain based progressive equivalent of a Liminal Network State, but such ideas are probably best left for when I finally get around to writing a Solar Punk Science Fiction novel.
At Limicon 2024, Joe expressed that this confernece was the first step towards his dream that he has experienced since he wrote that article. And I have the same sense and I want to be a part of this, whatever this is. THE DREAM IS ALIVE!
March 25
Exploring the Next, and possibly Final, Wave of Feminism
Hosts: Claudia Dommaschk and John Stokdijk
Description: Join us as we embark on a journey to imagine a radical shift in collective orientation to address the metacrisis. This new orientation will undoubtedly need to be grounded in the mature feminine spirit, ideally supported and collaboratively partnered with the masculine spirit. As evidence of aspects of this feminine spirit can be observed in biology, we suggest that a fifth and possibly final wave of metamodern feminism will likely encompass both our individual gifts (wisdom) and an appreciation of the human limitations inherent in our embodiment. Through a combination of a presentation and experiential exercises, we hope to delve into this concept so that we not only discuss it but also experience it. We eagerly anticipate the opportunity to spend time together with you!
Writing a few days after the event, I barely remembered it, mostly just a blur now. There were technical problems at the start caused by an incorrect Zoom link, which was my responsiblity. My energy was focused on not being too upset with mysel so that I could continue to participate somewhat effectively. I was not fully present. I was quite bummed out afrterwards.
It did seem to me that of the 15 participants present, only one was there to listen to what Claudia and I were trying to bring. The others seemed more focused on what they wanted to share with the group. In hindsight, it seems that the word feminism is a trigger word.
But that is not the whole story.
Two friends stayed with us in the Zoom room to debrief the experience for about forty minutes. And we got great feedback that was well delivered and landed well. From this emerged an idea about what the next elegant step may be for the journey Claudia and I are on. And relationships deepened. This more than made up for the disappointment we felt about the event itself.
March 27
How to collectively process pain and/or pressure?
Host: Jochen Weber
Description: In my time at a number of spaces in the liminal web, I often felt some hard to talk about limitation. Particularly when it comes to committing to working on a shared project together, I experienced hesitation in myself. And I also guessed that the same might be going on in others. What if I will experience some let-down in an important aspect, and am then not heard by the people who I am trying to connect to?
I would like to explore how, from a liminal and metamodern perspective, we could come up with a process that gives people some reasonable confidence that everyone in the space is equally committed to "hearing one another" -- particularly when things get a little rough.
Jochen is more skilled at hosting than I am. And he has depth, layers of depth not apparent at first, which is true of many people. He is becoming a good friend and I follow Jochen’s Substack.
March 29
The Second Renaissance: a time between worlds
Hosts: Catherine Tran, Elisa Paka, Rufus Pollock - Life Itself
Description: How do we distil and present some of the key ideas and patterns of "this space" in a way that is succinct and accessible - including to people not yet "in the space"?
We present the concept of a Second Renaissance as one framing of this "time between worlds" to set the stage for constructive dialogue about what's going on in the world and what's needed for radical transformation.
I have been aware of Life Itself for several years and I really like their website, great content. As I generally do, I read the Second Renaissance information that had been provided beforehand. So for me, the presentation portion was a repeat and bored me. And I was mostly familiar with the content from other sources, nothing new and fresh, again boring for me. And the presenters were researchers but not dynamic nor engaging presenters.
This event felt, to me, as an attempt to establish Second Renaissance as a brand, perhaps not a bad idea. But, imo, the SPACE is becoming increasingly fragmented. However, Limicon 2024 seems to me to be a unifying force.
March 30
A Monthly Newsletter for the Liminal Web?
Host: ChrisD
Description: What would a newsletter for the Liminal Web look like? A publication that curates content and events so that many can keep track of what goes on in the Liminal Web from a month to month basis? The beacon has been raised multiple times, but what would it be like to maintain it?
My intent for this session is to discuss this potential project together. My hope is to find a bunch of people that are interested in writing, curating, and documenting trends within the Liminal Web moving forward.
Consider it a curation project post-Limicon.
Website: My curation project for Toronto: https://lightmorning.substack.com/
I follow Chris Dungca and The Light Morning on Substack. He is a young man with ideas and energy. And he is part of the Liminal scene in Toronto which seems to be on the leading edge of on the ground developments in the SPACE.
The first thing I noticed was that all six participants were men. It seems to me that Doing events attract male energy and perhaps Being events attract female energy. Personally, I am trying to shift some of my energy from doing to being. However, the vibe in this event felt good and the energy seemed to be healthy male energy.
I came to this event with an attitude of wanting to be a cheerleader for this project. I left with a desire to be a loud cheerleader as I see considerable potential for where Chris might take this initiative. And I offered Chris some questions to ponder.
Is this a ChrisD initiative or part of something bigger? Will there be a Limicon 2025 and would the newsletter be connected to it? What is the relationship, if any, between the newsletter and The Network Map developed by Naryan Wong?
Having now been at Limicon 2024 for over three weeks, I see Limicon as potentially a powerfuul brand with the conference, the map and the newsletter being three pieces under one umbrella to which more pieces could be added.
March 31
An Oral History of The Integral Stage podcast
Host: Layman Pascal and Bruce Alderman
Description: A live recounting of the inception, history and highlights of the notorious Integral Stage podcast with Q&A.
Vibe: nostalgic/inquisitorialAI
This event was pleasant but unremarkable. I did appreciate the historical perspective. Surprising to me, because Pascal and Alderman are big names, there were only eleven participants.
The most interesting comments for me were Lyman Pascal playing with the idea of creating an ai version of himself based on The Integral Stage content. And Bruce Alderman shared his idea of having conversations with Claude Opus. My reponse is yes, yes, yes! IMO, this is the future and will enable engaging at scale. I have initiated my own project in this direction.
After the session, I browsed The Integral Stage Playlists. I have only watch a couple of the 435 videos that are available but I see many more that interest me. Bruce Alderman indicated that he is working on a book based on the videos.
March 29
The Art of Temporics: Liminal Practices in a Time of Between Worlds
Host: astrid montuclard & Jeremy Johnson
Description: The Art of Temporics: Liminal Practices in a Time of Between Worlds (in collaboration with Mutations)
Many scholars and practitioners in the “liminal web” explore integrality as an emergent structure, or stage of consciousness in our time between worlds. Concordant with this new worldview comes new, generative capacities that are characteristically dynamic, processual, and even “oscillatory.” What does it mean to embody an integral worldview in our daily lives? In this session, somatic therapist and practitioner astrid montuclard and integral philosopher Jeremy Johnson introduce an integrative field-tending method which draws its theoretical foundations from the work of Jean Gebser (1905-1973). Participants will be invited into an oscillatory practice where the structures of consciousness Gebser presents in his schema (the archaic, magic, mythic, mental and integral) are attentively noted as they are brought into present awareness (presentiated). Given sufficient time and spaciousness, the benefits of such a practice are twofold: first, such a practice helps to engender in participants an intuitive sense of the history of consciousness, the five mutations, and their respective and ongoing co-presence in our daily lives, and secondly, this practice helps to distinguish–while not dividing–the emergent ‘integrative’ modes of thinking, being and relating from what has come before.
The aim, as astrid and Jeremy will suggest, is an experimental method for group facilitation: an artful temporic practice that has the potential to effectively illustrate the principle of ‘relational emergence’ while also providing a clearing for the spontaneous emergence of new integrative perception: the sudden flashing forth of the whole (‘diaphaneity’).
In the context of liminal communities, artful practices of emergence that are sensitive to skillful field tending are necessary tools for the effective actualizations of potential–and hopeful–futures embodied in our present.
I attended this session out of curiosity. I had read and reported on Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness by Jeremy Johnson. I have reread my book report and stand by it. And I have nothing more to say at this time. I am curious if anyone will find their way to my website, read my report and share my perspective.
April 1
I posted the following message on the LIMICON 2024 Network.
After Limicon 2024, Claudia Dommaschk, John Stokdijk and Jochen Weber will be playing with a potential implementation of "The McGilchrist Manoeuvre". We are inspired by the article by Jonathan Rowson which we recommend as a grounding reading. Join us as we oscillate from the right hemisphere to the left hemisphere and back to the right again. If you would like to zoom out, zoom in and zoom out again, please let us know. Our email addresses are cdommaschk@gmail.com, john.stokdijk@gmail.com and cj.hammond.gm@gmail.com. We can also be reached on Substack. Claudia writes Immediacy Forum, John writes Metamodern Wannabes and Jochen writes Jochen’s Substack. Further details will be shared in coming weeks.
April 3
Closing Ceremony
This was a conference debrief, a celebration and a grieving. There were three breakout sessions which were all good experience for me, very good vibes. The final half hour was an open mike opportunity for specific expressions of gratitude and felt like the perfect ending for the conference.
April 4
I sent this email.
Greetings Danielle, The Mother of Limicon
Congratulations on a very successful conference. With 308 participants and 147 events, this must have exceeded the undefined expectations. No doubt it is very satisfying to have seen your vision come to life.
Next for you is probably taking a well-earned break.
Each of us will have had our own unique experience of Limicon 2024 and I have described mine in my essay About Limicon 2024.
As I now focus once again on my own small projects, I do so with a shift in attitude. I feel more connected to something bigger, something potentially very big. Others probably sense that as well.
I hope there will be a Limicon 2025.
Regards,
John Stokdijk
On April 15th I attended a Community Call: From Field Study to Limicon 2024 with Dr Danielle Johnson hosted by Life Itself.
In this community call, Danielle shared a little about her journey, some insights she had gained along the way, how Limicon 2024 fit into her work, and how she might further collaborate on the project with the Life Itself community.
Danielle Johnson, PhD is a generalist currently working in the liminal web ecosystem. Dr. Johnson received an MA in Communication and a PhD in Social/Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Northern Illinois University. She graduated in 2015 and since then has been developing a unified theory of psychology which helps individuals maximize their mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
Danielle is also very interested in field building within the liminal space. Currently, she is focused on applying this work to her local community and planning a field-building based online event, Limicon 2024.
Particularly noteworthy was the response Danielle gave when asked what her most unexpected learning was.
(lightly edited) I mean it's so stupid and it should be like the least unexpected learning, but it's hard to get people to get along and do stuff sometimes but that was it... every time it surprised... why are we fighting... it would surprise me over and over again... it just is silly that it did.
On December 5, 2024 I received an email from The Mother of Limicon.
Greetings Limicon 2024 Participants!
We are now 8 months past the close of Limicon 2024. The envisioners and organizers of the event have been delighted to watch the sparks of activity lighting up around the field and the ripples that are still radiating. We invite you to pause and take a moment to notice any impacts that you may be experiencing in your own lives.
I, personally, have spent the last eight months resting, integrating, and occasionally popping my head out to connect with some of you.
Upon reflection, I still feel immensely grateful for everyone who participated in the Limicon 2024 container. I found tremendous value in practicing the role of sourcing an event and in the interactions I had with many of you during the container and beyond. I feel honored to have been afforded the opportunity to participate in that space, with these people, in that way. It was a beautiful collection of souls.
In May, when I wrote the first draft of this letter to all of you (but was- unable to, so I didn’t/stuck so I didn’t/guided by listening and stillness so I didn’t- send it), I wrote:
My vision is that the connections between members of this ecosystem continue to strengthen, grow, and cohere. My wish is that the hope, which is found in knowing there are other awesome weirdos like us out there, abounds and acts as a beacon to the edge dwellers, like I once was. My personal commitment is to serve the ecosystem by supporting that hope in myself and others, in order for other people to feel more empowered to do the work we have no other choice but to do.
In that spirit, I would like to cordially invite you to a Limicon Reunion Event.
On December 18th, from 4-6 pm CST, some of the Limicon organizers will be holding a space to reconvene and reconnect. You can expect small group breakout rooms, some interaction as a whole group, a chance to mingle, and smiling, there will definitely be smiling To help you reminisce and get in the spirit, a Limicon 2024 Yearbook has been generously curated by Lauren and Jochen. Join us and see who will “sign it” at the Limicon Reunion.
As a bonus treat…during the second hour of the event, we will open a special breakout room and hold our first co-creation meeting for LIMICON 2025!
I look forward to seeing you there
With Warmth and Love,
Danielle