Now entering: the Season on Encounter 🌾
Nature's cue on encountering our limits; fruitful first visioning workshops; & more exciting events coming up
01/ Encountering ultimate concerns 🌌🌾
If we reflect upon … our existence, our boundaries, our possibilities, … we invariably confront the givens of existence, the “deep structures” … “ultimate concerns.” — Irvin D. Yalom, Existential Psychotherapy (8)
Today in Golden Gate Park’s California Native Garden, a clearing of wildflowers still bursts with the colors of summer. Sun cups, poppies, and coyote mint blossoms proclaim their best lives in yellow, gold, and magenta.
But look closer, and you’ll notice we’re at the beginning of an unmistakeable shift. The red currant has put out its oval berries. The Franciscan manzanita (pictured below) bears fruit, and some of its leaves have dried out. Acorns take shape in the foliage of the coast live oak.
After a season of flourishing, our natural locale winds down for a season of rest, of dormancy, of golden hills and dry creek beds. With no rains until November, our flora and fauna shift inward, offering their harvest before concluding another cycle of life.
In our human realm, San Franciscans are living the height of our summer. Festivals blare, markets buzz, and the Burning Man burns. But perhaps less visible are the quiet transitions among us—a retirement, the loss of a friend, a changing body—endings and beginnings that flutter in from the boundaries of our existence.
Taking our cue from nature, we too enter a season to notice—to honor—our encounter with these boundaries. Life carries on in its fullness, yet gently we come into the presence of its edges: loss and mortality, suffering and absurdity, twilights and dark nights of the soul.
There’s no perfect way to hold this all. The edges are hard to grasp. Sometimes they overwhelm, sometimes they shrink from our touch. But toward the edges we feel, even if what we find is darkness. Because who knows? Maybe, in that darkness, we’ll find each other.
The Season on Encounter runs from August 1 to November 1. More about the Contemplarium’s full Common Year is forthcoming, but a sketch can be found here. Seeking to collaborate with local naturalists, nature writers and poets, and Indigenous culture-bearers — please be in touch.
02/ What have we been up to? 💪
🔭 Kicking off visioning workshops
I’m abuzz with energy and gratitude after our first visioning workshops for the Contemplarium—one online and one at the Unitarian Universalist Society of SF. We had a great conversation about the vision for the Contemplarium, and we shared hopes and posed questions about how to build space for honoring the human journey in SF.
Some key themes that have emerged so far:
Establishing culture — What will the culture of the Contemplarium actually look and feel like? In our programming, how will we model and build capacity for respect, welcome, and humility in the presence of vulnerability?
Diversity and access — How can we cut across cultural, socioeconomic, political, and generational lines, grounded in our conviction in the inherent and equal dignity of all San Franciscans? (Shared tons of excitement here!)
Variety of ways to engage — If I don’t feel ready to hold others’ experiences, how can I have a meaningful experience for myself? How can I opt into different energy spaces? How can we shift between individual and communal?
Physical space — What are the advantages of a distributed Contemplarium across existing community spaces, vs. a dedicated Contemplarium space that’s a reliable go-to?
And overall, core ideas of the Contemplarium are resonating: Honoring is a new practice distinct from both therapy and meditation. We’re co-building the Contemplarium together. We’re a resource for the entire city.
It was incredible to come together with energy, excitement, and constructive ideas. Make sure to join in our upcoming “Build the Contemplarium” Workshops (see below) to contribute to this brewing conversation!
03/ Upcoming Events & Programs 📢
🛠 Join a “Build the Contemplarium” Workshop
Curious to chat more about the Contemplarium? Excited to explore possibilities or getting involved? Register for one of our upcoming workshops where we’ll discuss the SF Contemplarium vision and envision possibilities:
🗓 Sunday, August 11, 2–4pm, 📍 Noisebridge (272 Capp) — Register here
🗓 Wednesday, August 14, 6–8pm, 📍 The Commons SF (550 Laguna) — Register here
(🔵 NEW) 🗓 Wednesday, September 17, 7–8:30pm, 📍 The Commons SF (550 Laguna) — Register here
→ Interested but can’t make this round of workshops? Fill out this brief workshop interest form!
🪔 Sign up for a Journey Group
Carve out some space in your life to honor your everyday human experience, alongside a small group of diverse folks you’ll get to know over several sessions. Each session, we’ll sit in a circle, take turns sharing what is on our hearts, and practice honoring each others’ experiences with compassionate listening. Learn more about Journey Groups or sign up for a Journey Group.
🌕 Jam and reflect on the Pelican Moon
Take a moment to pause and reflect on your past month over crisp paper and cozy lofi beats. We’ll gather this next full Pelican Moon to close the chapter on this moon cycle, through a mix of private journaling and a bit of lightly social connection. Come with something to write with and on. Leave with a hint of grounding and peace.
🗓 Sunday, August 18, 6–8pm, 📍 The Commons SF (540 Laguna) — Register here
🎋 Stop by a Reflection Stand Popup
Our popular park popups are back! We set up stations for folks to post up their joys and sorrows. Then, passersby can honor their neighbors’ joys and sorrows by dropping a pebble. It’s a way for the community to honor itself. Come experience it! (And be in touch if you’d like to help setup, accompany, or take down the popups 💪)
🗓 Sunday, August 25, 12–4pm (stop by anytime), 📍 Duboce Park — See details
🗓 Sunday, September 1, 12–4pm (stop by anytime), 📍 Duboce Park — See details
04/ In case you missed it 👀
📜 Our manifesto
We published our manifesto, “A San Francisco That Honors,” outlining the why and what of the SF Contemplarium. At its heart, our city needs infrastructure to help us honor our human experiences. If you missed it, take a read! (To dig even deeper, check out “A People Who Honor” on my ideas blog Moral Infrastructure.)
🏎️ Accelerator showcase
As part of the founding cohort of the Build IRL community-building accelerator, we each had a chance to make a one-minute pitch at the final showcase. Check out SF Contemplarium’s here:
That’s it for now!
Can’t wait to see you for a moment of pause in this season of harvest and encounter.
— Seanan
The San Francisco Contemplarium is a new community institution creating space in San Francisco to honoring our human journey, through programming and physical constructions. Visit sfcontemplarium.org to learn more.
Beautiful!