Community Chat for This Wonderful World
A Place for In-Progress Creations & Caring Connections
Welcome to the Community Chat of This Wonderful World!
I’m so happy that you’re considering joining us! Here’s a little more about how this community can serve you, and how we do things in our group:
Building Caring Connections through In-Progress Creations
While finding a friend in the constant companion (our) nature is foundational to self-love and inner-peace, nothing can replace the need for actually connecting with other humans. We are social beings- we need each other.
That’s why the community chat is one of the most important parts of This Wonderful World. Here: not only do you get to connect with folks (like you) who care about our world and aim to grow love and peace within it, but you also have a supportive place to practice and strengthen peaceful ways of connecting:
Through sharing your posts, you’ll gain confidence in your most authentic expression.
Through commenting on other people’s posts, you’ll practice skills in peaceful communication.
That being said, from what I’ve seen on Substack, the community here already supports this kind of thing- I’ve been extremely touched by the quality of authentic, caring and creative content that I see folks posting. I’ve also been impressed with the kindness that I see in the comments that happen on the Substack platform.
Even so, sharing on the big platform of Substack (or any other social media platform, as they’re all open to the big Internet) can feel like a big deal. Personally, I like a more private space to share my works-in-progress and to connect more intimately (that’s right- I’ll be sharing too!).
That’s what this community chat is here to do:
to provide a safe and supportive space for creative seedlings to grow
and to connect more intimately with our caring and creative community.
With that in mind, here’s some food for thought on how to make the most of your community chat experience:
1. Share Your (in-progress) Creative Reflection
Every week, post a picture, video, or poem/story from your practice. While there’s no pressure on posting, having a regular goal for sharing can challenge you to connect in times when you might be feeling insecure or blocked, which can help build intimate stability. Intimacy isn’t just about sharing when we’re inspired -it’s staying connected even when we’re not.
With that in mind, remember that, in this space, it’s not important for your reflection to be refined; this is a place to be in-progress. Though it takes courage to share our seedlings, it’s worth it for the authentic and meaningful connections that we’re building.
Still, if sharing your in-progress reflections feels really scary, here’s some things to keep in mind:
When Anticipating Other People’s Criticism: the fears we have about how others might perceive us often reflect our own insecurities. So, before posting, it can be helpful to get to know your nervousness a little better. Here’s some questions for reflection:
Why do I feel nervous about sharing this?
What about this post do I feel unsure about?
What am I most afraid others might think? Where does that fear come from?
Our Reflections are a Mirror to the Audience. How folks interpret our reflections has much more to do with their understanding of themselves (and of the world) than it does about you. We’ve all got a butt-load of trauma-triggers that can pop-up at any time like hidden landmines. I know it’s not always easy, but let’s do our best not to take other people’s feedback personally.
Numbers Don’t Matter Here: One of the hardest things for me about social media (in general) is the way in which our popularity is counted as if it were a reflection of our worth -and it’s not. If it were up to me, counting would not be such a big part of social media, but Substack does use it on all your posts, and even in the chat. So, that means that we have the opportunity to strengthen our ability to handle numbers (high or low) without it affecting our self-worth, or the worth that we assign others. It’s not easy, but at least we’re here for each other. Let’s be generous with our support, and remember that (in the end) the numbers here don’t really matter.
You are supported in this community. Any purposefully hurtful behavior will be addressed by administrators. If you need support, please reach out.
2. Comment to Connect
Every week, take time to check out other people’s reflections. Give ‘um a heart just for acknowledgment. Then, comment on one (or a few) that really touched you, inspired you, or that you could relate to. The more we interact with each other, the stronger our community becomes. To support a thriving creative community, here’s some guidelines and suggestions for comments that connect:
Focus on content and impact over form or talent: Though it’s often well-meaning to say things like “what a pretty picture” or “your voice is so beautiful” or “wow, you’re so talented”, our purpose is not product-centered -and this is not a talent-show; it’s process based. By commenting on form or talent, it brings attention to the product, not the process. Please keep your comments centered on content and impact. Here’s some ideas:
Share how you relate, how you’re inspired, how you feel when reading/hearing/or seeing it, or how it impacted your perspective/understanding of yourself and/or the world around you.
Respond Creatively: Share a short story, poem, or image from your life that relates to what was shared in their post.
(Though it probably goes without saying), in building intimacy, it helps to have a clear set of boundaries that we can rely on as we share tender parts of ourselves. With that in mind, let’s remember to keep our comments respectful and kind. Here some reminders (that I, too, work to remember):
If there’s something that’s upsetting to you (that you feel you need to comment on), please look within first. When big emotions are triggered, they’re often connected to places of hurt or fear that are already in us (and that have very little to do with the source of the trigger). Ask yourself “What within me needs some love and reassurance?” How can you soothe that place of hurt or fear before responding?
If (after taking some time for self-care ) you still feel the need to comment, first remember that the person who wrote this post is here for the same reasons as you: they care about our world and are aiming to grow love and peace within these changing and challenging times. Please respond with this in mind.
Then, if you still wanna share, consider asking questions for clarity first, such as “Can you help me understand why (or how)…”
Then, if you still wanna share, please use I statements, such as “I feel frustrated/saddened/angered/frightened by….because I…”
If there’s something that you think is objectively incorrect (science-wise), please remember that we’re all sourcing information from different places and experiences. With that in mind, first consider asking where they got their information. Then, if you want to share your understanding, consider starting with “It’s my understanding that…This understanding came from….” Remember that our world right now is a big-fat mess of information. Let’s be kind to each other as we bring together our different pieces of understanding.
Finally, please keep in mind that:
This is a confidential community. Please do not share other people’s work or stories without their explicit consent.
The Community Chat is only for sharing our reflective arts. Please do not solicit or share any other content (advertisements, news articles, etc.)
If money’s tight, there’s help for you to join. It’s listed for paid subscribers cuz I wanna make sure that everyone really wants to be there. It aids in the confidentiality of the space. But, if that’s economically difficult for you, here’d some help:
Help the Community Grow!
When you refer your friends and family to join, you can get up to a year of free subscription. Thank you so much for helping the community to grow!
When you join as as group, it’s costs significantly less for each person in the group: