For the past year or so I've loosely held on to the overarching intent that we created for iNOW. And while it still rings as authentic, it doesn't point to what I am feeling. I want to convey the meaning and weight of what I am now understanding as a necessary step in radical commitment. The first thing I have to address is this word salon, which seems to imply a mere gathering of people with loose intentions that are largely (and usually) of an intellectual nature. No, this is not what I am looking for. This I can accomplish with a casual dinner party of eight at my place. And in the online sphere, it is totally tiresome to join Yet Another Yahoo! group, or social network, or forum, or other antiquated form of collaboration. I mean, hello! Welcome to blogs, RSS and the amazing usage of hyperlinks!
Okay so salons are out for me. Yes! I mean it!
And so perhaps all this talk of integral salons is besides the point. We need constellations of happenings, events, ceremonies, single chaotic puncture-points in the vast blank sheet of boredom draped over all of us...
Well see now, that's not it for me either. I mean that's certainly part of it, but not quite the big concept. If all we had were these one-time events, I feel that we would lack the intimacy of challenging each other. Every encounter between us would be a flurry of greetings and kisses in the air, with beautiful states of creativity and a smattering of small jabs here and there. There must be a deeper commitment to each other, a stretch for each of us, and an endeavor to sustain the connections between us. We grow to learn who we are chiefly through contact with others.
So what would be a word on the spectrum of commitment beyond salons? Culture? Community? I should hope it includes some form of both culture and community... What is the balance between the individual and collective behaviors? How does one allow for both freedom and security? What would be the values, norms and artifacts? And what of my generation of screenagers, how is technology all a part of this concept?
I have no answers yet, but I feel like ongoing posts like these are the first explorations of an accurate picture.
