A lot has happened at Emergent Commons during the past few months.

Mighty Networks launched a major upgrade to their platform which was understandably disruptive. Several EC volunteers worked very hard to help members with this transition which went well from my perspective. But all things considered, I do not see a lot of benefit from the upgrade.

On November 10, 2022 The Stoa hosted an event that was particularly meaningful for me -  Emergent Commons: A Journey in Building Grassroots Online Community w/ Emergent Commons Community. Most EC members found their way to this community via Rebel Wisdom, but not me. My path was through some fortuitous circumstances that had roots in The Stoa. Although I have greatly appreciated RW content, Peter Limberg and The Stoa have felt special. And I am now working with other EC members and together we have launched a new crew, The Stoa Embassy, with the intention of actualizing collaboration with The Stoa.

At the same time, Rebel Wisdom shut down and pointed its followers to EC. As a result of these two events, there was a spike in new member inflow. And it so happened that I was on duty as a Greeter. It was a busy week and a very good experience. I filed a detailed report with the Member Engagement Team which began as follows:

For the period from November 11 to 18, I approved 38 members. There were 7 who responded to my welcoming email and accepted an invitation to Zoom, 6 who responded but declined the Zoom invite or we are still trying and 25 who did not respond.

I have continued to post content of interest to me on Not Game A and to add content to my The SPACE and the MOVEMENT spreadsheet. There is not as much discussion as I had hoped for but new members are joining the crew. Below is one post I made that I want to highlight:

Ask Me Anything

Please, if you have any questions about anything I do, ask me.

Earlier today, I received a private message from a member of this Crew, as follows:

Hi John, I just noticed your welcome to the NOT GAME A crew and just wanted to mention that I have had a couple of members ask me why you make a big deal out of people like Stephen Marcus? I know I understand and the question possibly goes to some of their own underlying issues. Just wondering if you want to reflect on that more. 

I asked, “Why do not those people ask me that question directly?”

Same old reasons. Not feeling safe, I guess. When I asked, they said they didn't feel comfortable. Pretty new members, both of them.

New members, I will answer your question, but I would first like to share some of my Emergent Commons experience with you. 

Being safe and feeling safe are both important. I think EC is generally a safe space but I have not always felt safe here. I had issues, and I still do. I have written About Being Triggered at EC. In hindsight, I learned a lot from those experiences and I am willing to share them openly.

The general answer to the question is on my personal website - There are a significant number of notable members on the Emergent Commons membership roster. They are players in the Metamodern/GameB/Liminal space but not very active at EC and that is fine. They are, no doubt, very busy with their work. But just their presence as EC members enhances my feeling of connection with a bigger movement and my sense of community. I would like to express my appreciation for all they do. 

In regards to Stephen Marcus,  he is the Founder of Sacred  Ground. I am not making a big deal of this, merely adding him to my personal list of Notable Members at EC, people who have accomplishments worthy of some recognition. I hope my list grows in 2023 and beyond.

Also on Not Game A, I wrote a message that I will post very early in 2023.

My Message for the New Year

When I first joined Emergent Commons I naively thought it would be all about the SPACE and the MOVEMENT. But I soon learned otherwise. EC had deep roots in Rebel Wisdom which was a key player in the MOVEMENT. Over time I gained an insight that I was probably projecting my own desires on to EC and RW. Moving some of my activity into this Crew helps me to be more open to whatever the emerging Purpose of Emergent Commons is apart from what I would like it to be.

But perhaps there is more to the story.

From Ria Baeck I learned about the idea of retrospective coherence. Sometimes we do things mostly driven by intuition rather than clear objectives. Sometimes there are several such things in our lives that seem unconnected. But as time passes they take on added meaning and begin to cohere. I am experiencing that with Not Game A as a new idea takes shape in my mind.

But I am often flooded with ideas, too many to act on. Thankfully, some fade away. Some require working with others but nobody is lit up by my ideas, so they die. 

If my latest idea comes to life, code name Let’s Do Something, I will happily share it with everyone at EC.

I would like to clarify the thinking behind my selection of the name of this Crew. It is not meant to imply a rejection of all that is Game A. I agree with those who assert that the last thing we should want is the collapse of Game A. That would probably lead to catastrophic chaos with totally unpredictable outcomes. In fact, working in jobs that contribute to the best parts of Game A and making small improvements is useful, perhaps even important.

However, at the same time, I believe that incremental change within Game A will be insufficient to solve rapidly growing problems. We need to accelerate the transition from Game A to Game B. We need progress at a pace that would feel revolutionary.

What I mean by Not Game A is to exclude content focused on Game A, particularly criticism. Endless criticism of Game A seems to me to be extremely easy, and a waste of time, at least my time. And there are plenty of other spaces in EC for posting and discussing such content.

There is very little inappropriate activity in EC, mostly excellent engagement. However, I will share that in 2022 I removed one member from this Crew and blocked that member. I did so after some discussion with one member of the Moderation and Conflict Support Team.

If I find the time in 2023, I would like to occasionally add a Content & Commentary newsletter highlighting additions to my ever growing spreadsheet and expressing some personal views.

Finally, in 2023 I hope to hear more from those members of this Crew that I do not know or engage with elsewhere in EC. My focus here is on content and activity, what we discuss. However, we can engage here in support of the greater EC purpose which has an emphasis on how we engage with each other.

Emergent Commons is a space where I feel very ALIVE. All things considered, it is a wonderful experience, a community where I can be my authentic self. But one consequence of feeling full of life is to have too many ideas for the time and energy I have available. So within EC, I need to make difficult choices of where to spend my time.

At one time I was reading everything posted by Leilani, some of which I captured in two posts - Words from Leilani Jennings and More Words from Leilani. But it seemed that as my available time shrank her output increased. So with mixed feelings, I stopped reading her posts unrelated to specific EC matters.

I also made a decision to stop cheering the posts of others as I did not find this to be a meaningful form of engagement. And I turned off notifications of cheers on my posts. Although they usually felt supportive, they were generating too much volume in my notifications.

I am not a party person, not good at small talk. But I attended the Emergent Commons Year End Party on December 30th because these are people I want to be with. I have found my tribe and I am looking forward to what emerges at EC in 2023.