ReTribe Introduction Part 2

As a follow-up, I wanted to address a few practical issues related to ReTribe. I’ve been asking myself a few questions that I could use your help answering.

Specifically, how do we keep ReTribe safe, connected, authentic, and scalable?

The truth is we are constantly balancing my “go with the flow” tendencies with a need for a framework that will provide the group with enough structure so that it is self-sustaining. A few key ideas have been central to my thought process.

Collaboration is key

The vision of ReTribe is to create a safe space that supports and promotes self-exploration, connection and learning, through spiritual and physical practices, exposure to inspiring and creative teachers, and embraces likeminded souls in their pursuit of more mindful living.

As our community grows it has become a magnet of positivity. The bigger ReTribe grows the more it attracts other likeminded tribes and communities who want to connect, interact, and work together. Teachers, independent thinkers, practitioners off all sort who are interested in connection and collaboration. To this end we have done a number of collaborations in 2020.

· Soul Conscience Community lead by Liz

· Get High HK lead by Trisha and Jhiak

· HK Movement Practice

· Holotropic Breathwork lead by Thomas

· Dance lead by Lisa

· Lightning Awakening lead by Chris and Ariel

Most of these circles continue to gather, practice, and meet on an ongoing basis, both in and outside of ReTribe. I would encourage you all to reach out and contribute independently or join those groups if you have interest. Collaboration take effort an initiative…so share the love whenever it feels right! The more we can support these types of groups and practices the better off we will all be. Keep ReTribe connected and interacting in the community – this is essential supporting our community and creating an environment to nurture all the different aspects of self-growth.

Upcoming collaborations we are looking forward to include….

· Garden Gathering – a beautiful Women Circle with a rich community of amazing teachers and practitioners

· The new Ikigai studio, located in Central

· Taro reading circle

· Sunrise Breathwork Meditation group in Mui Wo and etc.

Until now we have relied on the Earth Mother to provide…a free flow of energy connection and goodwill seems to always find a way. That said, we have been thinking about finding a regular space for gatherings, or maybe integrating with one of the studios/coffee shops we already have a relationship with, in order to create a physical headquarters for collaboration, meetings, and connection. Though the Secrete Place has served us great so far, perhaps a regular spot (with a bathroom) in one of the upcoming areas of Sheung Wan or SYP might be interesting to think about. Ideas welcome!

If Collaboration is Key, on what basis do we decide to collaborate?

· Activities should weave our community together and support individual journeys of personal growth and exploration.

· Inclusivity is an important part of what we do. Collaborations should not exclude people who want to participate.

· Keep intentions pure and non-commercial. That doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t show appreciation to teachers or contributors by paying them. It simply means that we don’t treat our collaborations or community activities as a money making operations.

· Every community needs a way to be self-sustaining, and any money that comes in should be used to enrich the community by being put back into the system.

Communication: How we communicate matters!

ReTribe has reached critical mass. According to Robin Dunbar, that “magic number” is 150. This simply means that at this size we can still maintain close personal relationships with everyone in the community. This is a number that if supported and cared for can be self-sustaining and self-generating. Although intuitively I don’t think there is an absolute truth or a magic number, the idea is an important one.

Our challenge is this. In the era of modern technology and connectedness, with the right level of openness and transparency, can this number be larger…can we push the physical limitations that start to arise…exactly how many people can actually sit around the camp fire?

To this end we are actively talking through different ideas and braining storming new ways to enhance the platform and create value for the community. Integration between Website, Insta and WhatsAp might be a good start. We have thought about creating or adapting a Mobile App that can provide a safe space, chats, profiles, calendar and clarity. The canvas is fairly blank at the moment…and I am inviting anyone with a paint brush to get involved. If you would like to take initiative and propose a user-friendly solution…not only will your ideas be welcome, we would be most grateful for the help!

Some examples of how things might evolve include…

· If we are able to create a rich and robust communication platform, something a bit more efficient intimate than what we have now, the ReTribe.life WhatsAp chat group may be used more as a platform for major announcements, sharing of projects, or as a chat for new people to join in and check out what is going on in the community…and less as the interactive platform for the entire group to communicate.

· Moving forward we will likely begin to create separate groups for different practices within ReTribe community with the hope of encouraging intimacy and engagement from the wider group.

· ReTribe Events – we are actively working to create authentic events on a weekly basis: blissful practice, sunrise breathwork, weekend gathering. You are welcome to get involved. Be an active participant and suggest natural spots or venues to organize events and share your skills – Trust us, it feels great!

· Proactively creating connections with other Conscious communities so we can share our gifts and benefit from theirs.

And that brings us to Part 3…

· How do we reward and encourage participation and contribution to the ReTribe community?

· How do we show appreciation to members of the community in a way that isn’t just about paying someone for their services?

· How do we create a system that is based on intentions of love and good will?

The answers to these questions aren’t easy or strait forward. But the more we thought about them the more we realized that there are other likeminded communities out there all struggling with the same types of questions. It started something like this…

The ReTribe community is amazing…and full of people who want to contribute and help make the community a regenerative, sustainable, super cool place to hang out, and share, and be supported, and spend time around people who care. And sure, using cold hard cash to pay for services is easy and efficient…but it also squeezes the love right out of the whole thing.

Part 3 to follow

Gilly Strauss & Dima