SHORT VERSION: In the biggest change since we began, The Porch Magazine is becoming The Porch Community, and we're launching a new network of transformative storytellers. Read on - or just go to www.theporchcommunity.net/order to learn more about how you can participate and support.
FULL VERSION: The pain of the world is obvious to anyone whose heart is open. But the story we tell about the world is also part of the world, and if our stories are to be authentic, they must be large, courageous, and creative enough to contain hope as well as lament. And hope is an embodied thing, a response to a call to action - the action of claiming the beauty and good that is, and which is stronger even than death.
In other words, life is difficult, life is beautiful, and the path to a world in which everyone lives beneath "their own vine and fig tree, in peace and unafraid" is made by walking it.
All spiritual wisdom traditions teach that suffering calls forth love, and that unnecessary fear of tomorrow adds nothing good to the experience of today. Love is not saccharine but fierce - a willingness to devote yourself to the good of all. And sometimes discernment and compassion will indeed feel like fear. Becoming love and transforming fear don't always seem like they come naturally; but they are the result of choices, nurtured by the stories we tell.
We are learning that the kind of storytelling that embraces the totality of experience - all of it, the ugly and the exquisite - and helps us integrate does not belong solely to the realm of what is usually called "spirituality". It's in art and culture, politics, sociology, psychology, neuroscience, ecology - wherever an understanding of truth evolves from lived experience and a commitment to discern how truth becomes wisdom. And wisdom always serves the common good and the evolution of love.
What we are announcing today is the next step in the evolution of The Porch - part of the process of reducing violence and healing the harm done in a culture where anger, blame, and fear so often dominate. This is true whether the call is between individuals in conflict, nations at war with others (or themselves), or the struggle so many of us have to discern and co-create meaningful lives amidst ecological concern or economic, political, or cultural overwhelm. If part of our experience depends on the story we tell, then we need to resource and prioritize transformative storytelling as if our lives depended on it. I really mean this. It may actually be a matter of life and death. And even if that death is a metaphorical one - the kind of soul-deadening grind of days and weeks and years and decades driven by the pressure to be “productive”, “safe”, or “good” - if you knew there was story medicine that could help, wouldn't you take some?
*
To that end, we are delighted and excited to announce The Order of the Rocking Chair - a new community of transformative storytellers. Born out of our work over the last six years and more at The Porch, this is the manifestation of years of dreaming and discerning — and we are asking you to be part of bringing it into being.
By storytellers we mean anyone who tells a story as part of their contribution to the world - writers, musicians, artists, filmmakers, therapists, clergy, and people in leadership roles.
By transformative stories we mean stories that seek to move beyond "us versus them"; the myth of redemptive violence; and both the belief that either there's nothing I can do to change things, or that I have to save the world almost entirely by myself.
By transformative storytellers we mean those committed to discerning, learning, and practising a storytelling that changes the teller as well as the audience; pays attention both to wisdom that has stood the test of time and to the new understandings about what it is to be human that are emerging every day; and know that there is a deeper source to our telling than our own minds alone.
*
The Order of the Rocking Chair seeks to gather and support transformative storytellers on the path of learning and sharing life-giving stories of surpassing depth. It's a bit like a professional association in that it supports networking and sharing ideas and strategies, but you don’t have to be a professional storyteller to join - just someone who knows that their life includes telling stories and seeking to find the best ones. It’s also a bit like a religious or spiritual order in that it envisions commitments to a shared vocation and expression of core values, but you don’t have to be religious to be part of it - just compelled by a lived relationship with mystery and committed to the common good.
Think of it as a community of people who want to connect, sharing and receiving support as writers, storytellers, and other creatives who want to be in community together and nurtured in their lives and work.
You can learn more about our initiating members at www.theporchcommunity.net/order, but among us are both Pulitzer Prize winners as well as writers whose words are rarely shared beyond their home communities; Emmy Award-winning broadcasters along with podcasters who have done beautiful work for a small community; hit recording artists and musicians whose exquisite craft has perhaps yet found only a living room audience; leaders of organizations with hundreds of employees and people who work alone; sculptors and poets, photographers and therapists, spiritual directors and educators, retreat leaders and movie producers.
We are story-imbibers, story-shapers, story-sharers, co-creators of a way of being that transcends false or unhelpful narratives of both paradise and doom.
Instead of this binary between unstoppable collapse and inevitable utopia, we seek to be transformed by the story of the possibility of union among people, the ecosystem and beyond. Part of this depends on recognizing that there is a life-giving capacity granted to each of us, but which only flourishes when we are mentored by wisdom and add our genius to the alchemic mix of the gift that others are bringing too.
The Order of the Rocking Chair needs to exist because:
You have a genius, whether or not you know it.
You have a gift that the rest of us need, and the size of your audience or followers does not equal the value of your gift.
You have needs that can only be met in the context of community with other people paying attention to the transformative story of liberation, reconciliation, courage, creativity and the common good.
The Order of the Rocking Chair is for anyone who senses the call to pay attention to stories that offer a way out of “us versus them”, the myth of redemptive violence or the myth of redemptive suffering, the belief that I can’t change anything or must save everything all by myself. Whether you tell stories with your voice, your pen or keyboard, your music or visual art, in a spiritual, therapeutic or business context, if you know that the story you’re called to tell is an invitation to liberation and reconciliation, we invite you to apply to join us.
Membership is open to anyone who shares a vision for transformative storytelling as outlined here, and who is already on the path of sharing such a story. If you join you will find a supportive community who believes in your work and values relationship with you. We think you will bring and receive much, and we would be honored if you will join us.
We are treating the next twelve months as an experimental year in which we will discern the shape and meaning of the work and community; but we know that at this stage in our evolution, The Porch is better understood as a community than a magazine, and so we are changing our overall name to The Porch Community, and our website will be www.theporchcommunity.net. We welcome you to continue to read or support The Porch, whether or not you join the Order of the Rocking Chair - indeed the work of members of the Order will often be shared first with the Porch community.
*
What Order of the Rocking Chair membership offers is listed below.
* Opportunity to participate in a monthly online Porch Circle for Transformative Storytellers (completely optional). These will be ongoing Porch circles for those who want to meet in smaller circles to engage in transformative storytelling for the common good in their own lives, and to receive mutual support from others discerning similar questions. This will also be a great space to build trusting relationships and share ideas, and to receive feedback on your own work; and the possibility of offering or receiving mentoring.
* Opportunity to participate and be supported in a path toward completing a creative project in twelve months or less - a book, a record, a website, or even just getting your life in a place where you can devote more time to creative work.
* Monthly newsletter with Gareth Higgins’ essay of the month reflecting transformative storytelling for the common good + four pieces each month by members of the Order published by The Porch (pieces will be paid).
* Annual opportunity for showcasing all members of the Order of the Rocking Chair in The Porch - an elegant annual post with a link to each member's website and/or a piece of their work.
* An emerging “Rule", manifesto or set of commitments that emerges from the work we do together in the first year.
* Discount on Porch events, coaching/spiritual direction, print publication.
* Priority consideration for being published in The Porch.
Membership also supports the Porch Annual Gathering and the publication of a new annual print and e-book anthology of the best of The Porch.
*
Please note that membership does not require a specific time commitment - especially in this first experimental year. Some members may limit their involvement to simply reading the newsletter from time to time and knowing that they are connected to others on a similar journey; others may find that membership becomes a key part of their lives. The amount of time you give to it is entirely up to you - but we would be glad to have you with us. And let us reiterate: there is no time commitment required, just a willingness to commit to some shared values about transformative storytelling, and to connect with others on the same path
We offer this invitation with respect for the light and shadow of the moment that we’re in, the legacy of courage and creativity unto the common good, and the desire to share in that same work today.
Applications to join the Order of the Rocking Chair will open soon, and we'll announce that on this email list. But if you would like to join, you can click here to fill out a form to let us know your interest.
And you don't need to join the Order to remain part of the Porch community - you can continue to join with what we're doing, by reading and sharing what we're up to. If you already support The Porch financially, nothing will change - unless you want it to! If you’d like to help support our work, we’re grateful, and we invite you to take a look at our Patreon page here.
Next week we'll publish our first in the new series of monthly newsletters, with four new pieces from initiating members of the order. For now, thank you for the energy you bring to courage, creativity, and community.
In the spirit of a better story,
Gareth
