An exciting new format for our school

One of three announcements I'll be making in the next weeks

I’ve been working on a lot of under-the-radar stuff. The following is the first of several announcements coming.

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We've split our course into separate units! It now starts with the “Values Clarity Bootcamp”, a 5 week intensive program where you name your own sources of meaning precisely, reimagine your projects, and understand your emotions in a new way.

The Values Clarity Bootcamp

• A 5 week introduction to sources of meaning, $700

• The first batch starts May 15!

• 5 hrs per week (two 90 min meetings + independent materials) — Meeting times will be determined with a doodle among the students.

Four Questions You’ll Have Answers To

• What kind of society would support people’s sources of meaning? When you’re clear on your own sources of meaning (how you find it meaningful to treat people, to live, to be creative, etc) you can see what makes your life more or less meaningful, that leads to insight about society—about how everyone’s sources of meaning could be better supported.

• How would my projects change, if they were built for meaning? We often imagine our life projects as funnels or tubes (i.e., as about getting somewhere). It can be useful to rethink them as “spaces” for practicing what's meaningful to us. At the bootcamp, projects and life plans are reformulated.

• What do my emotions tell me about how I want to live? Every feeling is a reminder of something important to us. Unpack what your emotions are telling you about how you want to live. A compass for guiding your life.

• How can I create values-clarity within groups? Sometimes all that’s missing from our workplace or in our family is a shared recognition of what's important. By the end of the course you’ll have a list of your sources of meaning in a format that can inspire others and create alignment.

Not for everyone

The bootcamp’s best for those who (1) can recognize and name their feelings; and (2) like to find good words for internal phenomena.

You’ll also closely examine your life and sources of meaning. You might discover you try to be impact-driven, but feel guilty about mistreating people along the way. Or you work hard to be liked, and that keeps you from showing up strong. Maybe you try to be present or compassionate, but your full expression would be more badass.

You’ll recognize when other motives pull you away from your sources of meaning, motives like fitting in, having an impact, being successful, living up to your moral obligations, etc. You might find you’ve passed up many opportunities for meaning. This can be hard. It can help to have a therapist and supportive friends around, while you take the course.

It’s a journey

The bootcamp is designed to be interesting and engaging no matter where you’re at. If you’re already values-based and deeply introspective, you’ll gain a new, precise vocabulary to talk about meaning and to work with sources of meaning.

Others may experience a deeper reorientation to life—If you’ve been more goal- or status-directed, or have a non-values-based moral framework; if your obligations or moral responsibilities lead you away from meaning… the course will be even more valuable (and also more disorienting).

A gateway to social design

Those who complete the bootcamp and pass our assessment can continue to unit 2, which gives you hands-on experience making your life “meaningful on purpose” by designing for your own values; and then unit 3, where you interview others and make meaningful things for them; and unit 4, where you design large-scale, values-based projects. (For an overview of our design methods, watch Progress in Togetherness & Meaning.)