Freaking Out? Throw a Better Party. Make Things Better.

How to tap your friends and neighbors to co-create a more resilient community

Dear Brave Soul, we need each other. Now more than ever. ❤️‍🩹 In dark times of big uncertainty (economic threats and social upheavals in the USA), let’s grow a garden of mutual support to empower ourselves and each other. Let’s get inspired, gather, and bloom.

There’s Hope in the Dark.

In fairy tales, the forest looms dark and scary. Still, hidden under the forest floor, mycelial networks provide mutual support.¹ They share nutrients, send warnings, and help their neighbors through tough times. We can, too.

In a dark, scary time, it’s easy to isolate. Ruminate. When my little monkey mind takes over, spinning stories of looming disaster, I try to remember: Breathe: “Ahhhh…” Listen within. Then take one simple action toward the good. No matter how small.

Radical Joy for Hard Times: a project to co-create joyful acts of beauty

Welcome to Circles of Eight: A Creative Party for Change

If you want to do something, but feel stuck or overwhelmed, don’t go it alone. Meaningful change happens when we gather in small circles and make it fun.

But to step out of our day-to-day, we need a group that sizzles with positive energy. We need space to get real and drop our masks. As we trade worries and dreams over snacks or soup, we build trust. We grow mycelial powers to connect for common good.

Eight is a magic number for groups (any number between 6-10 people is ok). Like a great dinner party, this size offers diverse perspectives, it’s intimate enough for every voice to be heard, and is less prone to weird leadership hierarchies.²

Mermaid Temple: a retreat to empower women’s voices

Growing Your Circle: First Steps

Plan a simple event for everyone to bring their gifts to the table. Here's how to begin:

1. Starter Seeds. Get clear on your own "why." What aspect of community do you want to help grow? Enthusiasm is contagious. Start with what matters to you.

2. Gather Your People. Look for the dreamers and doers in your daily, local life. Who makes things better? Who brings unique skills and perspectives?

3. Find Common Ground. As you gather for the first time, invite all to share hopes and concerns. What matters most? How much time and energy can you devote?

Invite young and old to collaborate (Teen Talking Circles / Photo: Linda Wolf)

The Secret Ingredients of a Great Circle

• Truth-telling: Be vulnerable. Share your real hopes and fears to set the tone.

• Deep Listening. Be present; go beyond rushed, distracted conversation to hear what each person is saying. Speak one at a time. Use a talking piece and a timer.

• Permission to be imperfect. Let creative ideas flow. Acknowledge and discuss pros and cons before dismissing.

• Decentralize leadership. It’s a party. Yes, you need a host, but everybody takes a role to hold the circle (notetaker, schedule/time, communications, snacks, etc).

Fun vibes turn ‘work’ into play (Holy Sh*t compost toilets at music festivals)

Practical Magic: Basics

If you’ve got a good vibe going, and people want to commit, make some agreements.³

TIME: Set a regular in-person meeting schedule. How often, how long to meet? Monthly works well. Make agreements. Plus chats and Zoom/calls in between.

NAME GAME: Choose a simple name to make you smile. When we care, we show up.

VISION. One sentence. What you want your circle to create. Example: A free, connected local support system, where like-minded people trade resources and provide mutual aid when our community is in need.

MISSION. Steps we agree on. Example: By meeting regularly, establishing barter networks, and working together on common goals, we create a more free community for ourselves, our families, and loved ones.

SECURE COMMUNICATION. Secure messages = encrypted. Signal’s best in 2025.

GOALS. As you co-create a name, vision, mission, and time agreements, set a simple, doable goal that you want to work toward. Here’s a few ideas:

• Preparedness: secure three months of food storage, other equipment

• Food: build local food networks for families in crisis, plant gardens in empty spaces

• Bugout Plan: Create plans and collect supplies to prep for possible need to leave

• Housing: share resources, extra rooms, unused spaces in homes

• Resources: Create a tool library; ways to share or barter/trade supplies

• Education: Start a skill-sharing event, mentoring, buddy plan, or art project

• Parent support: Rotating childcare, play dates, surrogate grandparents

• Social-emotional spiritual support: weekly gatherings, yoga, meditation, singing

• Self-defense: defend and protect, from self-defense classes to firearms (optional!)

• Elder support: check-ins, calls, buddy system

• Digital Safety: share tools and skills to protect and organize vital information

• Or dream up something to make your corner of the world a little better

Settle on a project? Carry on, Friends.

As folx volunteer for tasks, keep the positive energy flow. Let me know how it goes!

Keeping Joy at the Center

In December, I invited a Circle of Eight to sing with me bi-weekly. Our She Sings Circle is training to sing simple improvised chants and songs in public spaces. We’ll invite others to join us; the magic of group singing lifts hearts and spirits. Here’s our first co-created song for a new baby Tahoma, born last week to one of our singers 💗

🗣️ Your turn: ever been in a great group project? What made it work? Any ideas inspire you to co-create something new (and helpful)?

Thank you for being (Mostly) Brave. Thanks to Suzanne Taylor’s Now What? 2050 essay contest for sparking this idea. 💗 Please like, comment, or share with a friend who wants to do something(!) to light up the way in dark times.

More to come,

1. Mycelium is a magical example of cooperation in nature.

2. Lynne McTaggart researched “The Power of Eight” to focus power on individual healing. John David Garcia researched the optimal size for a group to be most creative: “Creative Transformation: A Practical Guide for Maximizing Creativity.”

3. Freedom Cells offer in-depth info on forming circles of eight for social change, see The Freedom Cell Manual (2022).