My friends,
I hope everyone is riding the liminal. :)
I had a good chat with my friend Jared Janes from the Both/And podcast today and the following thought occurred: The Stoa is an incubator for psychotechnology. It is here for those whose daemon is called to bring forth new transformational experiences to the world. Some examples that are being birthed in The Stoa: Communitas Prayer, Existential Dance Party, Stoic Breath, Writing Meditation, Alongsidedness, and more.
Here are some recent recordings at The Stoa:
The Meaning Kairos w/ John Vervaeke
Situational Assessment w/ Jordan Hall
The COVID Spectacle w/ Davood Gozli
Four events coming up this weekend:
The Communitas Prayer w/ Andrew Taggart. March 28th @ 7:00 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
The Stoic Breath w/ Steve Beattie. March 29rd @ 11:00 AM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
Stoic Fortitude: On Failure and Failing w/ Greg Sadler. March 29th @ 1:00 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
Foreshadowing Watch Party w/ Lubomir Arsov. March 29th @ 6:00 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
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March 27, 2020
I scheduled nine Zoom meetings today. All back to back. I was going to write that I unwisely scheduled nine Zoom meetings, but I do not know if this is unwise. There seems to be an exigency for me to connect and be responsive to various people at this moment, and it feels right to be deployed in a way that would otherwise feel like being overextended.
Yesterday at The Stoa we had our first Existential Dance Party, facilitated by Collin Morris. It went extremely well. Seeing over 20 people dancing on that Zoom chat had a spiritual feel to it. Afterward, I felt the group high. It was wonderful. I never really was a dancer. The closest thing I did to public dancing was bob my head while standing awkwardly at indie rock concerts.
I secretly always wanted to dance, though. I guess now that I am staying at home more often, it is a good time to learn. Learning how to dance during the meta-crisis has a nice ring to it, but maybe it is not about learning so much as unlearning. I am reminded of this article I read about white people not being able to dance because they are traumatized. I did not take it seriously when I read it, but maybe there is a hint of truth.
My resistance to letting go on the dance floor has a disembodied feel to it. There is an associated self-consciousness and self-judgment embedded when my body moves. But Collin is white, and that man knows how to fucking move. I am going to explore this dance theme more, and my daemon is telling me these dance parties might be a key component in the ecology of practices that is emerging in The Stoa.
I’ll end this with something I think I overheard Collin say last night during the session: the world is burning, so dance, bitches.
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The Stoa currently operates through a gift economy. We are offering the Stoa as a gift, for people to freely use during these troubled times. If you wish to provide a gift in return, email thestoa at protonmail dot com. Your gift can take the form of money, support, services or ideas. If you wish to gift money, you can do so here or here for ongoing gifts.