WholenessNone of us are one thing in isolation—not one skill, not one responsibility, not one function. We are massive, each of us, and we respect that in ourselves and each other. We bring our whole selves to the table, making no assumptions about the whole, but embracing the whole as being necessarily one. By the same token, everyone matters. Perfectly, equally. Every voice is equally invited, and the choice to speak is honored, and the words spoken are given their due attention. Each presence is unique, in its history and its now, and it irreplaceably informs the shape of the whole; and by virtue of being, every piece of the whole—every one of us—is held perfectly and equally sacred. AttentionWe treasure attention, and deeply respect it. In our house, it is something given clearly and honestly, and it to be withdrawn freely and without judgment. This means that you get what you sign up for. Nothing that you haven’t explicitly asked for will interrupt you, while you’re here. We don’t give your attention away, without your explicit consent. It also means that we skew heavily toward asynchronous communication, trusting ourselves and each other to be regularly checking notifications (Slack, email, etc) on their own timeline. ExpansionWe acknowledge that we are expanding, growing, by dint of just being alive. So, we structure ourselves loosely enough to allow that expansion to occur as it will, allowing room for exploration and discovery, affording each other the trust to experiment and self-discover in confidence. And we watch for the places where the expansion is slowed by friction, purposefully (never forcefully) designing away that friction to allow the expansion to continue as it will. TrustWe trust each other. We acknowledge that to function at all in a group is to rely on an incredible amount of trust; in awareness of that fact, we double down. Trust first. Trust that you will do what you say you will; trust that I will agree to only that which I can fully agree to; trust that you will honor what I entrust to you; trust that we are all doing our best; trust that there is enough; trust that we are all in absolute support of ourselves and each other; trust that we are all moving in the same lightward direction, on purpose. CuriosityWe move through life with a sense of future-wonder: we ask, with expectation of surprise and delight, what will happen next? This applies when it’s easy, and when it isn’t. Joy and curiosity are an easy pairing; emotional vulnerability and curiosity may not be. Nonetheless, curiosity is always what invites in the next moment—not fear, not apprehension, not even assertion; instead, open-handed curiosity, with the expectation of finding good.
|