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This newsletter is the occasion for a huge celebration and a big request: I am officially announcing the beginning of a land search project for the emerging community I am part of. Our hope is to be on land, somewhere, by the second solstice of this year, December 21, 2022. We are leaning into deep trust in life to imagine that, by then, we will get enough support both to find the land, to be able to buy it, and to find the pathway to making it a commons, never for sale. You can find out everything we currently know about what we are trying to do and what we need by visiting our freshly created and very simple website:

reweavinghumanity.org!

Anyone who’s been tracking what we have been up to in the last while already knows that what we are after is not simply to build a community so that we could find peace and home for ourselves. Indeed, our purpose for this project is far wider:

To increase our capacity to be active participants

in reweaving humanity into one interdependent pod

 as we prepare for seeding one site of

a full shared risk community

One of the main appeals of capitalism is the illusion of freedom: “If I only have enough money,” so goes the narrative, “then I can do whatever I want.” Across our ailing planet, billions of people are now orienting to this narrative, placing the making of money in the position of highest goal. All of us, not only big corporations, build transactional, instrumental relationships and often aim to externalize the costs of our activities, including making even the cost to ourselves invisible to us.

I am calling it an illusion because we live on a finite planet, where the only outside input is sunlight. Only temporarily can any of us pull ourselves away from that thick web of mutual impacts that being part of the biosphere means. Our collective misguided effort to control rather than surrender to life is now threatening us and the entire biosphere. Pulling “out” of our interdependence doesn’t change its reality; it only means that what we do has worse impacts.

Our ancestors knew that. The overwhelming majority of them, as well as many billions still at the present, have lived in what in English is known as “the commons,” a word that doesn’t have easy translation into many other languages. This kind of life, which our group is aiming to revive and adapt to our current conditions and limitations, means binding ourselves on the material plane both to each other and to the material elements – land, other living beings, and all else – that sustain our capacity to live. It is precisely this way of living that capitalism opposes, as it keeps us oriented to each other and to land rather than to the market. This is, also, why establishing the capitalist social order, both initially in Europe and anywhere else where the transition happens, has come about through immense violence, and requires ongoing violence to sustain, often invisible to those who benefit from capitalism – which is most of us who have access to this newsletter.

We are choosing to move towards togetherness, towards sharing all our resources and making all our decisions together, creating “no exit” conditions, reframing choice as being within togetherness rather than at odds with it, and exiting the market as much as our smallness and dependence makes possible (see my recent blog post, “Material Risk Sharing for a Livable Future,” for more on this). This choice is grounded in our belief that a global transformation is necessary and that pockets like ours that consciously take on showing the possible are part of what might support that in happening. We bring to this our experience, especially of the last nearly a year, of managing to maintain high trust and togetherness amongst us. I believe this is an essential ingredient. We are determined, and we are sufficiently like-minded to boldly move forward with this impossible task. None of us know what would work, if anything, to turn around the march to extinction. This is our attempt, and we surrender to it with clarity and lots of humility.

There are four of us already living together: Eddy Quinn, Emma Quayle, Fox Keohane, and me. We are planning to stay together, in our shared risk pod, and expand it to include Erin Selover, who was with us when we worked with Tamera, when we actually get on land, and, for some stretches of time, even before then. There are nine others who are co-holding this project with us, most of whom are not going to get on the land with us. This continues to amaze me, because the commitment they are putting in is immense (at least two meetings a week!), and they are orienting to it as their project along with us; not only as supporters. They are from six different countries on four continents. All this sustains our hope that the resources needed to make this project happen are going to materialize.

We are going to need a lot of support in many areas. There is no way to pick ourselves up and out of our patriarchal, capitalist way of living with its deeply ingrained narratives and patterns and suddenly be living outside it. This is why we believe that even though the vast majority of people reading this won’t be joining us, enough people would be able to tap into the visionary passion that fuels it, see the relevance of this radical experiment, and want to offer whatever they have to offer to find a material version of the bold vision for humanity that we can live into within our existing capacity.

For the moment, there are four specific forms of support that we are seeking:

• Do you know of any land that may be suitable for our purpose, or feel motivated to search for such land? If you imagine so, please check out our core criteria and fill out this form to reach out to us if you believe that you can offer support. Bear in mind that we have already ruled out several countries for various reasons: Brazil, Hungary, India, Israel, Turkey, USA.

• BayNVC has set aside, over the years, money that came in from substantial donations, and the BayNVC board decided to use $200,000 of that as seed money for this project. Since then, we have added, from different sources, another $40,000. Since we don’t know which country we will end up in, we don’t know how much we will need in the end. Bear in mind that part of our experiment is about converting the land we buy into a commons and removing it from the market. This is an opportunity for those who may have access to wealth to de-accumulate and reduce the overall amount of private property. Interested? This year, you can still get a tax deduction for donating. Here’s the link to give us money. Please also fill out the form if you want to stay connected.

• If you are inspired and excited, neither of the above are where your capacity is, and yet you want to be involved, possibly offer support, and at least follow what we are doing, then please join our mailing list and let us know what your interests are within what we are looking for in this form. While we are likely to use this newsletter from time to time to reach out to my full mailing list, we plan to be in touch with those who sign up for the project mailing list much more often.

• Think about who you might want to share this with because they might be inspired to offer support. None of us know who is connected to whom. Please take a risk with us.

I am sending this newsletter with a bit of a tremble. I have never in my life reached out to ask for significant amounts of money and for active support in finding other resources. It’s a huge deal. I am entrusting myself, and all of us who are part of co-holding this project – 14 people for now – to the flow of life to care for us and to care for humanity through us.

I am celebrating and mourning that I have decided to end all but one of the free calls at the end of April. I have offered these calls for quite some years. I have been in awe by what is possible even without seeing each other’s faces. The topics and the depth of engagement have moved me, sometimes to tears. I know many have benefited from these calls immensely. People are still finding the recordings and I often receive very touching feedback. Still, as I keep examining what is mine to do, as I keep aiming to narrow my focus so I can complete what I have taken on while still alive, it has become clear that this piece of my work is now complete. The March calls will be the same format as always. The April calls will have a ceremonial nature of marking an ending.

I am planning to continue the monthly call for activists.

*Sunday, April 3, 8:30 am - 10:00 am PT - last call*

The Facing Privilege calls are an opportunity for people to engage on the deep questions that arise as we reflect on the topic of privilege. Info and register

*Sunday, April 24, 8:30 am - 10:00 am PT - last call*

The Overcoming Patriarchy calls are for conversation, exploration, and active challenging of self and other based on the commitment to see and transcend all the ways in which we have internalized patriarchal thinking, to increase our collective ability to notice and act with choice. Info and register

*Sunday, April 17, 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm PT - last call*

The Questioning Money calls are an opportunity to grapple together with all aspects, both internal and external, of global capitalism and to move toward transforming it inside and out. Info and register

The Nonviolent Activism for Liberation calls are to support activists in empowering themselves within their groups and movements to increase capacity to align means with ends so as to transform cultures of burnout, conflict, mistrust, blaming and shaming into environments of solidarity, trust, experimentation, and increased capacity to move towards the possibility of a livable future. Info and register

This is our 6th year, with many people coming back for their 2nd, 3rd, or even 6th year! Watch the video as several people share what this has meant to them. There is deep magic in the community that forms, too, as people mobilize to change lives within and around them. Whether you are an "official" leader or not, this ongoing program will support you in freeing yourself to fully step into leadership in all aspects of your life and work, and play your part in making life work for everyone. As our social systems unravel, this is more timely than ever. And, for the first time, this is now offered on a gift basis. We are all hoping that this would allow many more people to register who couldn’t otherwise, and that those who can will give more so the course will remain sustainable. Info and register

This session takes place as part of the Time for Empathy 2022 event in which people from various countries cooperate to offer online events connected to empathy and Nonviolent Communication (NVC). The event is online and lasts from March 7 - March 14. Our dream is to build the world based on understanding, inclusion, acceptance and dialogue.

Find out more about the entire event and register here.

The Circle of Support is a central part of Miki’s commitment to participate in the movement to restore the maternal gift economy: a pattern of resource flow that is based on needs and capacity; not on individuals’ access to money. The Circle of Support acts as a baseline of steady support as more and more of what Miki does in the world is offered without any paywall or exchange. If you want to learn more about gift economy, the Circle of Support, and our experimentations so far with alternative economies, we welcome you to our Circle of Support page on Miki’s website, or join the Circle here. 

With immense gratitude and awe we have seen that, despite the hardships that have come to so many in these times, people continue to join the circle while others leave. This last period, we have a tiny decrease in the amounts and about the same number of people. At present, we have 110 people who contribute a total of $3,915 monthly to the Circle of Support. That’s slightly over half of our goal of 200 contributors, and just under two thirds of our goal of $6,000 a month. We feel blessed to have this much support at this time even as we hope to sustain ourselves more easily without dipping into our reserve.

Join the Circle of Support, or read more about it on Miki’s website »

Repressive conflict patterns in the dominant culture and low capacity for integrative conflict responses mean that we are likely to experience intense, often escalating conflict at many scales: interpersonal, organizational, and systemic. Given this context, Mariam is offering open calls to support people who want coaching from and co-thinking with her about how to respond to conflicts.

Timing is not ideal for US audiences; recordings will be made available.

NVC is rarely taught as a practice of liberation from the legacy of patriarchy, capitalism, racism and all other authority-based structures. This group of people from NGL are now offering this 4-part introduction to NVC, anchoring it in a systemic framework that supports people in making it a practical pathway to dismantle the inner structures that condition war and militarism, impacts on climate and the destruction of ecosystems, social inequality and all other forms of control and command. Info and register

Miki adds: “I am so excited that these colleagues are picking up where Inbal and then I left off. This is just the first of a number of events they are planning, and I am relieved to see this void being attended to.”

Selene will be speaking with Genevieve Vaughan, Vandana Shiva, Sherri Mitchell, and poet Chrystos on The Feminist Gift Paradigm at the annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. This diverse multi-generational international panel offers wisdom on the indigenous feminist gift paradigm, showing alternatives to patriarchal capitalism in all its forms that are still thriving around the world today. In her speech, Selene will draw from her experiments in interdependence to speak about how living in community is an achievable alternative to patriarchal structures that will support us to live the vision of a world that works for all. FAQ and register

Miki adds: "I am delighted beyond words that some of the experiences from our times together in Ireland and in Portugal are directly feeding into Selene's speech and the mystery of planting seeds of vision at such a public event."

An ongoing series of independent units or modules, each designed to support participants in engaging, in community, with one of the 34 Core Nonviolence Commitments. The series is for people who want to strengthen their commitment to nonviolence and increase their ability to put it into practice in their day-to-day lives. We ask that you have some prior NVC experience. You may apply to join the community at any time; once you are registered you will receive an email invitation once a month to sign up to participate, if you like, in the next module.

March: Commitment #14. Availability for Feedback

April: Commitment #15. Offering Feedback

May: Commitment #16. Openness to Dialogue

Nonviolence is a way of being and living that orients, in thought, word, and deed, towards integrating love, truth, and courage in individual and collective action aimed at preserving what serves life and at challenging what doesn’t to transform itself so the human family can realign with life. -Miki Kashtan

The world is hungry for people with skills to guide diverse groups and stakeholders toward decisions that everyone can wholeheartedly embrace. Are you called to support others with collaborative decisions? See what we have coming up.

We are looking for someone enthusiastic, experienced, committed, and self-directed to support Convergent Facilitation by leading our outreach efforts. We want someone with a strategic vision for how to drive attendance to our workshops and generate interest in Miki’s book, the technical skills to realize that vision, and previous experience. Here are more details. If you are interested, please contact Menaka.

We are celebrating our two-year anniversary of offering weekly Convergent Facilitation Coaching Calls on a topic brought by our Coaches. Our first CF Coaching Call was on May 6, 2020!

This year we started having monthly coaching calls on the 4th Sunday of the month focused entirely on challenges that people encounter in facilitating CF. The coach will engage with one or more participants in depth and offer specific coaching. Examples of what participants have brought so far were challenges in using CF to decide how to re-open a high school after a Covid lockdown, and using CF to create togetherness in a polarised housing community. Within the coaching we attend to facilitation skills and the tools being used, as well as the underlying CF consciousness.

We ask that you take an introductory workshop or read the book before you attend. Find out more about this project and get involved on the CF Coaching Calls Program page.

NGL doesn’t currently have any upcoming retreats. All of our work is online at present, and includes many calls where you can learn as well as many opportunities to contribute to our work. Many say, often, that just watching how we run our meetings is offering them a lot of learning and inspiration. 

Sabrina (NGL member and apprentice, from Germany), Fox (NGL friend and apprentice, from Ireland), and Yanae (NGL friend, from Hong Kong) are the NGL Welcome Crew, which has the purpose of creating a bridge to ease prospective and new NGL Friends' experience of landing within NGL. They run regular Welcoming Sessions where new NGL Friends can meet each other and ask any questions they might have.

The upcoming Welcome Sessions are planned for:

To find out more, or if you are experiencing difficulty with the sign-up process and need support, contact them at welcoming-friends@nglcommunity.org

Read about NGL and see whether being an NGL Friend is for you here.

The NGL Online community is a wild experiment in terms of use of resources of all kinds. In terms of financial resources, we pull together all money that comes in from any source, and distribute it in a collective process every four months. With the last distribution circle of our Financial Gift Hub in January we completed the distribution of the last grant we received. We are now fully dependent on support from those who feel inspired about our work and what we are learning and sharing. We are committed to never “charging” for anything we do, offering it all on a gift basis, and reaching for support where we need it.

If you have the capacity to do so, please donate here.

Miki worked for years with her sister Inbal Kashtan to develop learning materials about NVC, and has continued to develop new materials after Inbal's death. We now have a total of 27 packets ready after some reshuffling. We have no new ones for this newsletter, though Miki is still on track to complete the entire set by December 2022. All packets are available on a gift basis, with no paywall.

Many people are skeptical about money coming in when we provide content without a paywall. Our experience is a resounding affirmation that there is enough care and enough trust to begin to re-create flow. We are celebrating that so far this year people downloaded 358 items in 168 orders, giving an average $5.34 per item. Of these, 106 people didn't give any money, and we rejoice in that. One person contributed $110 for just one packet. This is the transitional world we want to live in, for as long as money exists: access for everyone regardless of how much money they have, supported by those who have the capacity to give more.

Visit the learning packets page here.

What if you could bring together any group of people to find solutions that are creative, satisfying, work for everyone, and actually get implemented?

In The Highest Common Denominator — Using Convergent Facilitation to Reach Breakthrough Collaborative Decisions, Miki Kashtan introduces a novel decision-making process that is designed to build trust from the very beginning, to surface concerns and address them, and to turn conflicts into dilemmas that groups feel energized to solve together.

For options about how to access the book, including the possibility of an electronic version on a gift-economy basis, visit The Highest Common Denominator.

You can also view videos from the book launch here.

Making Life Work - Online Self-Study Course

In the challenging times in which we live, many of us barely dare dream of a world that honors and seeks to meet the needs of everyone. This self-paced self-study course was born from that dream and it is available without a paywall, on a gift economy basis.

Sign up for the course or learn more here.