true abundance
A peer-supported learning circle to explore our relationship with money, wealth, and livelihood
What does scarcity mean to you?
Uncertainty in making ends meet financially?
Feeling burned-out and stuck in the process of generating livelihood for yourself, your organization, or community?
How does abundance feel to you?
Fantasy and fairy tales aside, how do you tap into abundance in a grounded, realistic way?
How do you invite yourself and others to see abundance right underneath the seemingly finite constraints in everyday life?
What are the alternative approaches to money, wealth, and livelihood that embrace non-extractive principles of personal, organizational, and community growth? How might we bring about changes that mitigate or transform greed, domination and alienation through our own practices and experiments with money, wealth, and livelihood?
If you share the above inquiries, you are invited to apply to this peer-supported learning circle. Once onboard, You’ll connect with other trailblazers and pathfinders from different walks of life and join forces together to push all of us into new territories and adventures.
This circle is not about theory, although interesting ideas and cases will be shared. I hope it is as down-to-earth as it can be. In this adventure, we’ll hold space for each other and collectively process our struggles and insights in an honest and authentic way. Bring your whole self to this adventure. And be ready to get your hands dirty as we’ll help each other test their ideas in small, doable steps, develop quick prototypes, and experiment with alternative approaches in the “real world!”
I’m more than happy to be your (initial) facilitator/curator and share tidbits to kick-start our collective learning. Over the course of this learning circle, I hope that all participants feel invited and supported to co-create and co-facilitate along the way. Feel free to use this precious collective learning space to explore the questions that interest you the most. The outline below is not set in stone. We can co-create our exploration “itinerary” as we go.
About the caller/initiator of the learning circle: I’m Carol Xu. Personally, I’ve been musing over topics on livelihood, time, and awareness-based system change for quite some time. With my organizational sociology and psychology nerdy background, I often think from different levels, individual, team/organization, and society. Instead of keeping this exploration to myself, in April 2020, I invited a few friends and former collaborators to start a peer-supported learning circle. It later turned into a learning community and a consulting collective of kindred spirits who keep on experimenting and exploring inquiries around livelihood models, alternative organizing, and how we might show up differently in our organizations or communities. If you want to learn more about my background, here’s a place to start.
Cohort size:
To cultivate a circle with plenty of space for deep learning and growth, intimate connection with one another, and a foundation for potential future collaboration, we hope to have around 8 (and no more than 10) participants.
Estimated workload every two weeks:
2-4 hours of reading and reflection (writing highly encouraged)
1.5 hours of Zoom session
1-3 hours of hands-on practice or experimentation (prototyping, testing, etc) in the “real world”
Only put in the work and join the exploration if you happen to be asking similar questions or you want to expand your horizon. Only join us if you have some down time or want to use this opportunity to create a space to slow down and search deeper. If the workload brings you anxiety on top of your already-full schedule, feel free to take care of yourself and your current commitments first. Our paths will cross again, one way or another.
Priceless Pricing (inspiration comes from Bonnie Rose and the ServiceSpace community):
The best things in life don’t have a price tag. They are not a commodity. I hope what we get to share and learn together is priceless to each of us. Hence, priceless pricing.
The goal of “pricing” here is for us to attune to each other’s needs and contribution, value them with our heart, not our habitual, transactional mind, and practice compassionate giving and receiving. Some will pay a little more, some a little less. Some may feel moved to contribute their skills or other forms of wealth. No contribution is too large or too small.
In other words –
No upfront fees – just sign up and commit to the exploration. Gift this opportunity to yourself.
Contribute anytime during or after the adventure – any amount in any form (financial or otherwise). You are invited to practice giving from a place of joy and solidarity to any members in this circle.
Tentative Schedule (1 session every 2 weeks, starting in the middle of Feb ):
Session 1: Coming together as a circle: bring your whole-being and burning questions
Session 2: Deep dive: Our personal relationships with wealth, money, and livelihood
Session 3: How does money work? History, Present, and Future
Session 4: Alternative possibilities (1): Gift Ecology
Session 5: Alternative possibilities (2): Solidarity Economy
Session 6: Reflection and harvesting
Next Step:
If you are interested in joining this circle, please answer a few questions here. It will help me assemble the incoming cohort and find a common meeting time (starting somewhere in the beginning of Feb). If you have any questions, please please ask through this form.
