Freda Wells
How can we spark a bit of hope and agency in people when times feel particularly challenging? We believe that bringing people together as a community to share the load and ask questions together as a collective is a powerful - if not vital and very human - way to reignite hope. This article goes into depth about the 'why' behind the event, shares highlights from the evening, and links to a recording of Jon's talk.
In August 2024, a small group of passionate people created a bubble of good energy, by hosting an to connect people with a beautiful idea: the citizen story, the subject of Jon Alexander’s book, Citizens. The goal was simple: to re-ignite a sense of agency and hope in people. It felt like we achieved this goal, in large part thanks to Jon’s voracious intellect, unbounding optimism and deep humility. By the end of the evening the feeling in the room was of connectedness, safety, and buoyancy. Seeds were planted of hope, inspiration and connection. Our favourite feedback was, 'my brain is still sparking'. The collective desire to connect is palpable in the air. The next phase will be navigating an interesting new set of questions: "connect over what? And do what next?" When we accept that we have more questions and answers, maybe we can relax a little into enjoying the journey - the how and why - and trust that the destination will take care of itself.
A key ingredient in successful gatherings is focusing on the intangibles: our own inner energy, intentions and feelings. When we genuinely show up to serve - when we carry in us an excitement and enthusiasm about each person's potential - the magic happens. This isn't about outcomes, tangibles, deliverables, but rather understanding the conditions that can create those. Once upon a time, we all felt that the world was a little magic. We curled up for books in bed time and were read fairytales and stories that lit up our imaginations. Maybe we need to bring back this connection with our imaginations, and with magic.
Part of what catalysed the event was sensing a need in response to a general mood hanging in the air in Aotearoa of late. The vibe in Wellington, and across New Zealand in general, has been a bit 'meh' lately, with 6,500 public sector job cuts and counting, with the current government's style being one of short-term gain for a few, at the cost of the many, and despairingly at huge cost to the environment. For some of us during times like this, our minds or souls starts pondering, 'what can we do?', 'what is needed?' 'what needs to shift?' The history of humanity is a long tale shaped by the challenges thrown our way (or that we've created!) Each moment invites us to consider, how will I show up? There are times however when this question seems more pressing…
Trying to show up optimistically can feel harder given much of what we read and hear in the news. Is it healthier to completely disconnect? There's a strong argument for it. Yet, we want to remain informed and engaged, and we are wired to connect. One comforting trend we've observed when we pan out, is that the news comes in peaks and troughs over a longer timescale. After a period of predominantly bad news, we then see a sort of 'immune response', with people and journalists alike, swinging back to choose to draw people's attention to the good. This is an important reminder about the power of choice (notwithstanding structural power and privilege imbalances which is another article in itself) - we get to choose the stories that we see value in telling ourselves.
Bare with me as I go deeper into the 'why' of this event series, which I think deserves some time in the limelight, given it's transferability to so many other contexts.
The Doors of Perception
How does our thinking effect how we show up in hard times? Mountains of evidence exist, that show the power of curiosity and self-compassion as essential qualities to help us through hard times, and life in general. Curiosity and self-compassion are key to shifting an inner narrative from disempowerment and despair, toward seeing new possibilities.
Cultivating curiosity
We can probably all agree in theory that curiosity is a useful and virtuous thing, particularly to address the 'polycrisis' (let's say it together - poly-opportunity!), but what proportion of our day do we spend actually just being curious? How do we create safe spaces to allow and cultivate curiosity, in a world that tends to incentivise 'knowing' and 'doing'? Because not knowing is invariably the starting place for any good curiosity! Allowing ourselves to be curious can shape life into a more fulfilling journey, and set a sort of cognitive foundation on which we can build a more constructive sensemaking in this world, at both an individual and collective level. This is in contrast to the evil twin of curiosity - judgment and cynicism. The role curiosity can play in enriching our lives is highlighted in many studies, such as this one showing that curious people are also optimists.
So we created this series to build a sense of hope and curiosity, as both qualities are key ingredients in helping us to figure out what better might look like. The adage, ‘where our attention goes, grows’ - is a useful touchpoint for our inner compass - which wolf do I want to feed? What do I want more of and less of in my life? What stories and ideas leave me feeling empowered to be impactful in my community and this world?
Invisibilia: Social contagion
Another element of our 'why' is the fascinating fact that our nervous systems are constantly communicating with each other (see Dr Deb Dana’s book Anchored). So, when my curiosity leads me to a place of positive outlook and possibilities, sensing more safety than threat, my nervous system is more regulated, and science shows that this will ripple out to make others feel more regulated. Cool huh? We really are all connected, it's not just some woo-woo, but scientifically researched and proven. So our psychological state impacts that of the group. Notice how your energy feels after spending time with certain people? Lifted up or dragged down? There's your qualitative field research right there. This is another strong case for creating something meaningful for us to connect with, something other than the doom and gloom headlines.
From me to we - a virtuous feedback loop
Caring for others is caring for self, and vica verca (awareness of this is a core belief in the indigenous world view.) Goodlife Collective was founded out of a deep love of seeking out and amplifying wisdom, the emotion of awe (which apparently moral beauty can create), the belief in all people's potential, and a passion for ideas that can inspire hope and possibilities. Because ultimately the more of us who FEEL hope, agency and a sense of possibility, the more this will ripple out in a healing social contagion, and the more we can collectively create a future where planet and people can thrive.
It’s all a big feedback loop, contributing to ‘rehabilitating the world’, in turn rehabilitating ourselves.' (~ Maria Popova.)
Healing our social fabric is a core mission of Goodlife Collective. It’s not always about grand gestures either, but takes place moment to moment in small things like random acts of kindness, smiles, warmth, inclusiveness, asking people how they are. Listening - truly listening, not just to respond, but to empathise, inter-relate and inter-be. We are all threads weaving the collective social fabric together, and the more we understand and connect with others experiences, the more infused with a collective wisdom our perception can become. As the Trinity Roots song goes, "it’s the little things that really matter.”
When the crew from ThinkPlace and Goodlife Collective first met, our values-alignment became clear, along with a strong shared sense of needing to create uplifting events for people. We agreed to have some fun and collaborate on delivering events that could build hope and agency around us. The ‘exploring the new’ series was born! Our first event, ‘an evening in conversation with Jon Alexander’ in August 2024, was as heart and soul-nourishing as we'd hoped.
Forty people gathered together in Wellington in a sunny ocean-facing space at Victoria University, on a school night after work. The room quickly filled with happy chatter creating a warm backdrop for what was to come. Forty is a good number of people, that is intimate enough that you can meet each person over the course of the evening. After glasses were filled and platters of kai and pizzas were grazed over, at 5:30 everyone took a seat with people they didn't know - in keeping with the theme of 'exploring the new'.
We invited people to pair up with someone they didn't (yet) know, to share their motivation to attend, and anything top of mind relating to the idea of good citizening. These quick warm-ups are deceptively effective, it was clear from the energy and volume in the room that people could have happily chatted all night - not a bad thing! Taking those few minutes to engage and dialogue, when it is so easy to leave it until the end, transformed and amplified the connection in the room, as well as for what was to come. It's the little things - when we shift from passive recipient to getting involved, so much can shift.
The room was officially welcomed by Wellington City Council's wonderful Deputy-Mayor Laurie Foon. Laurie's energy, enthusiasm, and positivity was the perfect context-setter for Jon's talk. She shared an impressive list of examples of good citizen work happening locally, a powerful reminder that 'bad news' headlines can do a disservice to the impactful work that is happening all around us in our communities.
ThinkPlace Co-Founder Jim Scully welcomed everyone with his signature warmth and lightness, reminding us that 'this is a bit of an experiment', as we hold the space and the process lightly to see what emerges. Freda Wells, Goodlife Collective founder, introduced Jon, and reminded people that maybe being able to say "I don't know" is perhaps a key attribute of being a leader going forward.
Jon's talk was highly engaging, stepping us through the framework of the subject-consumer-citizen story - a well-researched idea that has been refined over the course of his three masters degrees and deep involvement with practice in the field of social innovation and change. Jon started by walking us through one of his favourite examples of the Citizen Story - G0V zero in Taiwan involving his favourite, "hacker turned Minister turned mentor" - Audrey Tang.
In a nutshell - Jon's work describes the three dominant stories that humans have told themselves throughout history about who we are as a society:
- Subjects are dependent; Consumers independent; Citizens interdependent.
- As Citizens, our individuality is precious, but we recognise life is only meaningful in interdependence.
- Subjects have stuff done to them; Consumers have it done for them; Citizens do it together, with one another, and with and through organisations.
- Subjects obey and receive; Consumers demand and choose; Citizens create and participate.
- And the role of leaders and organisations in relation to Subjects is to command them; in relation to Consumers to serve them; and in relation to Citizens, to facilitate and enable them.
Click below to view Jon's talk.
As Jon says, "We have pervasive inequality, and we are telling ourselves the story that our primary responsibility is to look out for ourselves." That is a key premise of the consumer story.
He goes on to write, "The story of the Consumer is dying, but it is still dominant. The Citizen is emerging, but it is not fully formed. There is no guarantee that it will happen — indeed, our daily news can make a step back to the Subject story seem more likely than a step forward into the Citizen."
...
"Big things are changing, and this is just the beginning, but the nature of the Citizen story is that right at its core, it emphasises that what happens is up to us. All of us.
This will require inner work. Those of us who have grown up in the Consumer story will need to let go of many of our dreams, the lives we thought we would lead, the success we thought we were aiming for. Trust me, that is hard.
At the same time, we need to look out.
When you hear the Consumer story, challenge it. Humans are not lazy and selfish; when someone says so, they are speaking from and for despair. Instead, seek hope.
Look for the Citizen Shift in your world, and in your communities. In your city, in your neighbourhood, in the things you care about. I guarantee you will find it.
Take hope, and then, get involved. You are not a Consumer, and you are not a Subject. Now is the time to show it."
To end on a good question, "What would you do today if you truly believed in yourself and those around you?"
Thank you to Voice of Aroha for support with the venue.
REFERENCES
https://www.newcitizenproject.com/
Freda Wells
Freda Wells
How can we spark a bit of hope and agency in people when times feel particularly challenging? We believe that bringing people together as a community to share the load and ask questions together as a collective is a powerful - if not vital and very human - way to reignite hope. This article goes into depth about the 'why' behind the event, shares highlights from the evening, and links to a recording of Jon's talk.
In August 2024, a small group of passionate people created a bubble of good energy, by hosting an to connect people with a beautiful idea: the citizen story, the subject of Jon Alexander’s book, Citizens. The goal was simple: to re-ignite a sense of agency and hope in people. It felt like we achieved this goal, in large part thanks to Jon’s voracious intellect, unbounding optimism and deep humility. By the end of the evening the feeling in the room was of connectedness, safety, and buoyancy. Seeds were planted of hope, inspiration and connection. Our favourite feedback was, 'my brain is still sparking'. The collective desire to connect is palpable in the air. The next phase will be navigating an interesting new set of questions: "connect over what? And do what next?" When we accept that we have more questions and answers, maybe we can relax a little into enjoying the journey - the how and why - and trust that the destination will take care of itself.
A key ingredient in successful gatherings is focusing on the intangibles: our own inner energy, intentions and feelings. When we genuinely show up to serve - when we carry in us an excitement and enthusiasm about each person's potential - the magic happens. This isn't about outcomes, tangibles, deliverables, but rather understanding the conditions that can create those. Once upon a time, we all felt that the world was a little magic. We curled up for books in bed time and were read fairytales and stories that lit up our imaginations. Maybe we need to bring back this connection with our imaginations, and with magic.
Part of what catalysed the event was sensing a need in response to a general mood hanging in the air in Aotearoa of late. The vibe in Wellington, and across New Zealand in general, has been a bit 'meh' lately, with 6,500 public sector job cuts and counting, with the current government's style being one of short-term gain for a few, at the cost of the many, and despairingly at huge cost to the environment. For some of us during times like this, our minds or souls starts pondering, 'what can we do?', 'what is needed?' 'what needs to shift?' The history of humanity is a long tale shaped by the challenges thrown our way (or that we've created!) Each moment invites us to consider, how will I show up? There are times however when this question seems more pressing…
Trying to show up optimistically can feel harder given much of what we read and hear in the news. Is it healthier to completely disconnect? There's a strong argument for it. Yet, we want to remain informed and engaged, and we are wired to connect. One comforting trend we've observed when we pan out, is that the news comes in peaks and troughs over a longer timescale. After a period of predominantly bad news, we then see a sort of 'immune response', with people and journalists alike, swinging back to choose to draw people's attention to the good. This is an important reminder about the power of choice (notwithstanding structural power and privilege imbalances which is another article in itself) - we get to choose the stories that we see value in telling ourselves.
Bare with me as I go deeper into the 'why' of this event series, which I think deserves some time in the limelight, given it's transferability to so many other contexts.
The Doors of Perception
How does our thinking effect how we show up in hard times? Mountains of evidence exist, that show the power of curiosity and self-compassion as essential qualities to help us through hard times, and life in general. Curiosity and self-compassion are key to shifting an inner narrative from disempowerment and despair, toward seeing new possibilities.
Cultivating curiosity
We can probably all agree in theory that curiosity is a useful and virtuous thing, particularly to address the 'polycrisis' (let's say it together - poly-opportunity!), but what proportion of our day do we spend actually just being curious? How do we create safe spaces to allow and cultivate curiosity, in a world that tends to incentivise 'knowing' and 'doing'? Because not knowing is invariably the starting place for any good curiosity! Allowing ourselves to be curious can shape life into a more fulfilling journey, and set a sort of cognitive foundation on which we can build a more constructive sensemaking in this world, at both an individual and collective level. This is in contrast to the evil twin of curiosity - judgment and cynicism. The role curiosity can play in enriching our lives is highlighted in many studies, such as this one showing that curious people are also optimists.
So we created this series to build a sense of hope and curiosity, as both qualities are key ingredients in helping us to figure out what better might look like. The adage, ‘where our attention goes, grows’ - is a useful touchpoint for our inner compass - which wolf do I want to feed? What do I want more of and less of in my life? What stories and ideas leave me feeling empowered to be impactful in my community and this world?
Invisibilia: Social contagion
Another element of our 'why' is the fascinating fact that our nervous systems are constantly communicating with each other (see Dr Deb Dana’s book Anchored). So, when my curiosity leads me to a place of positive outlook and possibilities, sensing more safety than threat, my nervous system is more regulated, and science shows that this will ripple out to make others feel more regulated. Cool huh? We really are all connected, it's not just some woo-woo, but scientifically researched and proven. So our psychological state impacts that of the group. Notice how your energy feels after spending time with certain people? Lifted up or dragged down? There's your qualitative field research right there. This is another strong case for creating something meaningful for us to connect with, something other than the doom and gloom headlines.
From me to we - a virtuous feedback loop
Caring for others is caring for self, and vica verca (awareness of this is a core belief in the indigenous world view.) Goodlife Collective was founded out of a deep love of seeking out and amplifying wisdom, the emotion of awe (which apparently moral beauty can create), the belief in all people's potential, and a passion for ideas that can inspire hope and possibilities. Because ultimately the more of us who FEEL hope, agency and a sense of possibility, the more this will ripple out in a healing social contagion, and the more we can collectively create a future where planet and people can thrive.
It’s all a big feedback loop, contributing to ‘rehabilitating the world’, in turn rehabilitating ourselves.' (~ Maria Popova.)
Healing our social fabric is a core mission of Goodlife Collective. It’s not always about grand gestures either, but takes place moment to moment in small things like random acts of kindness, smiles, warmth, inclusiveness, asking people how they are. Listening - truly listening, not just to respond, but to empathise, inter-relate and inter-be. We are all threads weaving the collective social fabric together, and the more we understand and connect with others experiences, the more infused with a collective wisdom our perception can become. As the Trinity Roots song goes, "it’s the little things that really matter.”
When the crew from ThinkPlace and Goodlife Collective first met, our values-alignment became clear, along with a strong shared sense of needing to create uplifting events for people. We agreed to have some fun and collaborate on delivering events that could build hope and agency around us. The ‘exploring the new’ series was born! Our first event, ‘an evening in conversation with Jon Alexander’ in August 2024, was as heart and soul-nourishing as we'd hoped.
Forty people gathered together in Wellington in a sunny ocean-facing space at Victoria University, on a school night after work. The room quickly filled with happy chatter creating a warm backdrop for what was to come. Forty is a good number of people, that is intimate enough that you can meet each person over the course of the evening. After glasses were filled and platters of kai and pizzas were grazed over, at 5:30 everyone took a seat with people they didn't know - in keeping with the theme of 'exploring the new'.
We invited people to pair up with someone they didn't (yet) know, to share their motivation to attend, and anything top of mind relating to the idea of good citizening. These quick warm-ups are deceptively effective, it was clear from the energy and volume in the room that people could have happily chatted all night - not a bad thing! Taking those few minutes to engage and dialogue, when it is so easy to leave it until the end, transformed and amplified the connection in the room, as well as for what was to come. It's the little things - when we shift from passive recipient to getting involved, so much can shift.
The room was officially welcomed by Wellington City Council's wonderful Deputy-Mayor Laurie Foon. Laurie's energy, enthusiasm, and positivity was the perfect context-setter for Jon's talk. She shared an impressive list of examples of good citizen work happening locally, a powerful reminder that 'bad news' headlines can do a disservice to the impactful work that is happening all around us in our communities.
ThinkPlace Co-Founder Jim Scully welcomed everyone with his signature warmth and lightness, reminding us that 'this is a bit of an experiment', as we hold the space and the process lightly to see what emerges. Freda Wells, Goodlife Collective founder, introduced Jon, and reminded people that maybe being able to say "I don't know" is perhaps a key attribute of being a leader going forward.
Jon's talk was highly engaging, stepping us through the framework of the subject-consumer-citizen story - a well-researched idea that has been refined over the course of his three masters degrees and deep involvement with practice in the field of social innovation and change. Jon started by walking us through one of his favourite examples of the Citizen Story - G0V zero in Taiwan involving his favourite, "hacker turned Minister turned mentor" - Audrey Tang.
In a nutshell - Jon's work describes the three dominant stories that humans have told themselves throughout history about who we are as a society:
- Subjects are dependent; Consumers independent; Citizens interdependent.
- As Citizens, our individuality is precious, but we recognise life is only meaningful in interdependence.
- Subjects have stuff done to them; Consumers have it done for them; Citizens do it together, with one another, and with and through organisations.
- Subjects obey and receive; Consumers demand and choose; Citizens create and participate.
- And the role of leaders and organisations in relation to Subjects is to command them; in relation to Consumers to serve them; and in relation to Citizens, to facilitate and enable them.
Click below to view Jon's talk.
As Jon says, "We have pervasive inequality, and we are telling ourselves the story that our primary responsibility is to look out for ourselves." That is a key premise of the consumer story.
He goes on to write, "The story of the Consumer is dying, but it is still dominant. The Citizen is emerging, but it is not fully formed. There is no guarantee that it will happen — indeed, our daily news can make a step back to the Subject story seem more likely than a step forward into the Citizen."
...
"Big things are changing, and this is just the beginning, but the nature of the Citizen story is that right at its core, it emphasises that what happens is up to us. All of us.
This will require inner work. Those of us who have grown up in the Consumer story will need to let go of many of our dreams, the lives we thought we would lead, the success we thought we were aiming for. Trust me, that is hard.
At the same time, we need to look out.
When you hear the Consumer story, challenge it. Humans are not lazy and selfish; when someone says so, they are speaking from and for despair. Instead, seek hope.
Look for the Citizen Shift in your world, and in your communities. In your city, in your neighbourhood, in the things you care about. I guarantee you will find it.
Take hope, and then, get involved. You are not a Consumer, and you are not a Subject. Now is the time to show it."
To end on a good question, "What would you do today if you truly believed in yourself and those around you?"
Thank you to Voice of Aroha for support with the venue.
Freda Wells
How can we spark a bit of hope and agency in people when times feel particularly challenging? We believe that bringing people together as a community to share the load and ask questions together as a collective is a powerful - if not vital and very human - way to reignite hope. This article goes into depth about the 'why' behind the event, shares highlights from the evening, and links to a recording of Jon's talk.
In August 2024, a small group of passionate people created a bubble of good energy, by hosting an to connect people with a beautiful idea: the citizen story, the subject of Jon Alexander’s book, Citizens. The goal was simple: to re-ignite a sense of agency and hope in people. It felt like we achieved this goal, in large part thanks to Jon’s voracious intellect, unbounding optimism and deep humility. By the end of the evening the feeling in the room was of connectedness, safety, and buoyancy. Seeds were planted of hope, inspiration and connection. Our favourite feedback was, 'my brain is still sparking'. The collective desire to connect is palpable in the air. The next phase will be navigating an interesting new set of questions: "connect over what? And do what next?" When we accept that we have more questions and answers, maybe we can relax a little into enjoying the journey - the how and why - and trust that the destination will take care of itself.
A key ingredient in successful gatherings is focusing on the intangibles: our own inner energy, intentions and feelings. When we genuinely show up to serve - when we carry in us an excitement and enthusiasm about each person's potential - the magic happens. This isn't about outcomes, tangibles, deliverables, but rather understanding the conditions that can create those. Once upon a time, we all felt that the world was a little magic. We curled up for books in bed time and were read fairytales and stories that lit up our imaginations. Maybe we need to bring back this connection with our imaginations, and with magic.
Part of what catalysed the event was sensing a need in response to a general mood hanging in the air in Aotearoa of late. The vibe in Wellington, and across New Zealand in general, has been a bit 'meh' lately, with 6,500 public sector job cuts and counting, with the current government's style being one of short-term gain for a few, at the cost of the many, and despairingly at huge cost to the environment. For some of us during times like this, our minds or souls starts pondering, 'what can we do?', 'what is needed?' 'what needs to shift?' The history of humanity is a long tale shaped by the challenges thrown our way (or that we've created!) Each moment invites us to consider, how will I show up? There are times however when this question seems more pressing…
Trying to show up optimistically can feel harder given much of what we read and hear in the news. Is it healthier to completely disconnect? There's a strong argument for it. Yet, we want to remain informed and engaged, and we are wired to connect. One comforting trend we've observed when we pan out, is that the news comes in peaks and troughs over a longer timescale. After a period of predominantly bad news, we then see a sort of 'immune response', with people and journalists alike, swinging back to choose to draw people's attention to the good. This is an important reminder about the power of choice (notwithstanding structural power and privilege imbalances which is another article in itself) - we get to choose the stories that we see value in telling ourselves.
Bare with me as I go deeper into the 'why' of this event series, which I think deserves some time in the limelight, given it's transferability to so many other contexts.
The Doors of Perception
How does our thinking effect how we show up in hard times? Mountains of evidence exist, that show the power of curiosity and self-compassion as essential qualities to help us through hard times, and life in general. Curiosity and self-compassion are key to shifting an inner narrative from disempowerment and despair, toward seeing new possibilities.
Cultivating curiosity
We can probably all agree in theory that curiosity is a useful and virtuous thing, particularly to address the 'polycrisis' (let's say it together - poly-opportunity!), but what proportion of our day do we spend actually just being curious? How do we create safe spaces to allow and cultivate curiosity, in a world that tends to incentivise 'knowing' and 'doing'? Because not knowing is invariably the starting place for any good curiosity! Allowing ourselves to be curious can shape life into a more fulfilling journey, and set a sort of cognitive foundation on which we can build a more constructive sensemaking in this world, at both an individual and collective level. This is in contrast to the evil twin of curiosity - judgment and cynicism. The role curiosity can play in enriching our lives is highlighted in many studies, such as this one showing that curious people are also optimists.
So we created this series to build a sense of hope and curiosity, as both qualities are key ingredients in helping us to figure out what better might look like. The adage, ‘where our attention goes, grows’ - is a useful touchpoint for our inner compass - which wolf do I want to feed? What do I want more of and less of in my life? What stories and ideas leave me feeling empowered to be impactful in my community and this world?
Invisibilia: Social contagion
Another element of our 'why' is the fascinating fact that our nervous systems are constantly communicating with each other (see Dr Deb Dana’s book Anchored). So, when my curiosity leads me to a place of positive outlook and possibilities, sensing more safety than threat, my nervous system is more regulated, and science shows that this will ripple out to make others feel more regulated. Cool huh? We really are all connected, it's not just some woo-woo, but scientifically researched and proven. So our psychological state impacts that of the group. Notice how your energy feels after spending time with certain people? Lifted up or dragged down? There's your qualitative field research right there. This is another strong case for creating something meaningful for us to connect with, something other than the doom and gloom headlines.
From me to we - a virtuous feedback loop
Caring for others is caring for self, and vica verca (awareness of this is a core belief in the indigenous world view.) Goodlife Collective was founded out of a deep love of seeking out and amplifying wisdom, the emotion of awe (which apparently moral beauty can create), the belief in all people's potential, and a passion for ideas that can inspire hope and possibilities. Because ultimately the more of us who FEEL hope, agency and a sense of possibility, the more this will ripple out in a healing social contagion, and the more we can collectively create a future where planet and people can thrive.
It’s all a big feedback loop, contributing to ‘rehabilitating the world’, in turn rehabilitating ourselves.' (~ Maria Popova.)
Healing our social fabric is a core mission of Goodlife Collective. It’s not always about grand gestures either, but takes place moment to moment in small things like random acts of kindness, smiles, warmth, inclusiveness, asking people how they are. Listening - truly listening, not just to respond, but to empathise, inter-relate and inter-be. We are all threads weaving the collective social fabric together, and the more we understand and connect with others experiences, the more infused with a collective wisdom our perception can become. As the Trinity Roots song goes, "it’s the little things that really matter.”
When the crew from ThinkPlace and Goodlife Collective first met, our values-alignment became clear, along with a strong shared sense of needing to create uplifting events for people. We agreed to have some fun and collaborate on delivering events that could build hope and agency around us. The ‘exploring the new’ series was born! Our first event, ‘an evening in conversation with Jon Alexander’ in August 2024, was as heart and soul-nourishing as we'd hoped.
Forty people gathered together in Wellington in a sunny ocean-facing space at Victoria University, on a school night after work. The room quickly filled with happy chatter creating a warm backdrop for what was to come. Forty is a good number of people, that is intimate enough that you can meet each person over the course of the evening. After glasses were filled and platters of kai and pizzas were grazed over, at 5:30 everyone took a seat with people they didn't know - in keeping with the theme of 'exploring the new'.
We invited people to pair up with someone they didn't (yet) know, to share their motivation to attend, and anything top of mind relating to the idea of good citizening. These quick warm-ups are deceptively effective, it was clear from the energy and volume in the room that people could have happily chatted all night - not a bad thing! Taking those few minutes to engage and dialogue, when it is so easy to leave it until the end, transformed and amplified the connection in the room, as well as for what was to come. It's the little things - when we shift from passive recipient to getting involved, so much can shift.
The room was officially welcomed by Wellington City Council's wonderful Deputy-Mayor Laurie Foon. Laurie's energy, enthusiasm, and positivity was the perfect context-setter for Jon's talk. She shared an impressive list of examples of good citizen work happening locally, a powerful reminder that 'bad news' headlines can do a disservice to the impactful work that is happening all around us in our communities.
ThinkPlace Co-Founder Jim Scully welcomed everyone with his signature warmth and lightness, reminding us that 'this is a bit of an experiment', as we hold the space and the process lightly to see what emerges. Freda Wells, Goodlife Collective founder, introduced Jon, and reminded people that maybe being able to say "I don't know" is perhaps a key attribute of being a leader going forward.
Jon's talk was highly engaging, stepping us through the framework of the subject-consumer-citizen story - a well-researched idea that has been refined over the course of his three masters degrees and deep involvement with practice in the field of social innovation and change. Jon started by walking us through one of his favourite examples of the Citizen Story - G0V zero in Taiwan involving his favourite, "hacker turned Minister turned mentor" - Audrey Tang.
In a nutshell - Jon's work describes the three dominant stories that humans have told themselves throughout history about who we are as a society:
- Subjects are dependent; Consumers independent; Citizens interdependent.
- As Citizens, our individuality is precious, but we recognise life is only meaningful in interdependence.
- Subjects have stuff done to them; Consumers have it done for them; Citizens do it together, with one another, and with and through organisations.
- Subjects obey and receive; Consumers demand and choose; Citizens create and participate.
- And the role of leaders and organisations in relation to Subjects is to command them; in relation to Consumers to serve them; and in relation to Citizens, to facilitate and enable them.
Click below to view Jon's talk.
As Jon says, "We have pervasive inequality, and we are telling ourselves the story that our primary responsibility is to look out for ourselves." That is a key premise of the consumer story.
He goes on to write, "The story of the Consumer is dying, but it is still dominant. The Citizen is emerging, but it is not fully formed. There is no guarantee that it will happen — indeed, our daily news can make a step back to the Subject story seem more likely than a step forward into the Citizen."
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"Big things are changing, and this is just the beginning, but the nature of the Citizen story is that right at its core, it emphasises that what happens is up to us. All of us.
This will require inner work. Those of us who have grown up in the Consumer story will need to let go of many of our dreams, the lives we thought we would lead, the success we thought we were aiming for. Trust me, that is hard.
At the same time, we need to look out.
When you hear the Consumer story, challenge it. Humans are not lazy and selfish; when someone says so, they are speaking from and for despair. Instead, seek hope.
Look for the Citizen Shift in your world, and in your communities. In your city, in your neighbourhood, in the things you care about. I guarantee you will find it.
Take hope, and then, get involved. You are not a Consumer, and you are not a Subject. Now is the time to show it."
To end on a good question, "What would you do today if you truly believed in yourself and those around you?"
Thank you to Voice of Aroha for support with the venue.
Freda Wells
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