1. Shared Responsibility: We agree to take responsibility for the impact of our words, actions, and energy. Together, we will create a community defined by authentic inclusion. We agree that everyone matters, those within this circle, and those without. Everyone. We will not tolerate words that perpetuate hate. We strive to transcend racism, sexism, nationalism, abilism, ageism, fat phobia, homophobia, transphobia, or other forms of bias. If we stumble, we will acknowledge our mistakes and apologize. When we stumble, we will stumble toward each other.

 

2. Patience: The magic is in the wait. We practice patience and rely on trust to move our stories along our human blockchain. Members agree to mail the diaries to the next participant within three days after receiving them. (Unless a different agreement has explicitly been made.) We communicate delays when they happen. We exercise the right to either leave or wait knowing there are too many factors beyond our control to pretend we have it all together here. And when we wait, we continue to participate in this community which we have knitted together around storytelling.
 

3. Brave Space: We each share responsibility for creating and protecting a brave space in which we can share our stories. We’re welcome to show up as imperfect beings who are learning. We will make mistakes. But we won’t tolerate willful disregard of our agreements and community values.

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4. No Contests: We take respite from the joy-stealing realm of comparison. We purposefully leave hierarchies behind in order to create a container of sharing and compassion. We don’t stratify our true stories and selves as we are all valid and need no further validation. Our stories and voices matter as we give each other the gift of attention.

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5. Authentic Connection: We prioritize face-to-face, hand-written, and voice communications over other methods. We prefer to connect with each other on a human level via virtual or in-person meetings where we get to have real conversations at interesting events and meet real human beings to have fun. We show up for each other to say hi even if we choose to remain silent. And we choose to listen or read with our hearts, embracing differences that make our community unique as a whole. 

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6. Investment: We believe anything worth having is worth investing in. There are many ways to build community but real connection requires real work. We value putting in the work necessary for real relationships to exist in this space. 

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7. Kindness: We agree to practice radical kindness with each other and with ourselves. We will practice including ourselves in the circle of kindness we will be helping to create.