The purpose of this post is to update you on five housekeeping matters:
1. Publishing cadence. After some experimentation, I’ve settled on a weekly post: from now on, you can expect to hear from me every Friday.
2. Monthly chats. Thirteen (!) people have signed up for the monthly Zooms I proposed last time. I consider this critical mass: large enough to accommodate absences, small enough to allow for trust to build over time, and for discussions to go deep. Our first gathering will be at 5pm PT on Monday, May 5th, with recurring meetings at the same time on the first Monday of each new month.
3. Parallel platforms. In the event I decide to leave Substack—read this when it’s a good time to have your mind blown—I’m building out a mirror site on Ghost, where the exact same content will live. I’ll let you know when it’s ready. Given Substack’s aforementioned Nazi problem, some of you may prefer to get my posts from a different platform, even if I (for reasons I’ve thought long and hard about—email me) choose to keep using Substack as well.
4. Food for thought. Being part of this nascent community doesn’t involve homework—but I’m congenitally incapable of keeping the books I’m reading to myself. Two titles currently shaping how I think about civic engagement are: Hate Won’t Win by Mallory McMorrow and Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. I’d be eager to discuss either (or both) when we connect.
5. Action vs. words. As I shared last time, I’m an ornery sort: I know that meaningful change requires mass action, but I don’t fall into step easily—one reason I’ve always been a better entrepreneur than employee. To sustain real work over time, I need a theory of the case: a clear sense of the problem, a belief that certain measures can meaningfully address it, and a view of how my actions—however tiny in the big scheme of things—might contribute.
This unavoidable way of being—trust me, I’ve tried to escape it—was what Work Stew was all about. And this year, as I shift my day-to-day focus from the private sector to the public sector, it’s what What Now is all about.
For some, this will feel like too much angst-ing, not enough action. Those folks should head straight to Mobilize and grab an assignment—there’s plenty to do. (On Saturday, for example, I’ll be attending this event in San Francisco.)
But what I’ve heard in response to my first few posts is that I’m not the lone shopper at Overthinkers-R-Us. Like me, many of you feel more able to stay engaged and energized when there are opportunities for connection and reflection along the way.
Huzzah to that!
Kate
P.S. Zoom Info:
Newcomers are welcome to join the monthly Zooms anytime. I won’t post the link online because that attracts bots and trolls, but if you have it, feel free to share it with people you trust. If you don’t have the link yet and want to join, just email me: kategacewalton@gmail.com
Photo by Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa on Unsplash