Flux #48 - Now is the Time to Build
Hey everyone,
Eric here. I hope you’re all doing well out there.
First, I want to share that our Indiegogo campaign is now live as well as our latest interview with Holochain, which you can watch here. This marks one of the most pivotal moments for Junto and I’d be grateful if you took a look and considered supporting us :)
We’ve sorted out some exciting development priorities for the centralized beta and Holochain MVP, so you can check it all out there…
Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/junto-a-new-breed-of-social-media--2#/
Holochain Interview:
I also want to take this moment to be a little vulnerable with you all and share something that’s been on my mind this past week.
Until now, I’ve held myself back in fully expressing the vision I see for this project and why I’ve committed myself to it. I think a lot of it has had to do with being afraid of making Junto inaccessible to all walks of life. To some, where I’m coming from could be perceived as naive, charged with activism, and even dogmatic.
I feel called to be more unapologetic about this now given the circumstances we face today and simply because I want to be open about who I am. I speak for myself and myself alone.
The inspiration for Junto came from the desire to transform the extractive systems we face in our lives. As I began to pay attention to the solutions being presented across various issues, I couldn’t ignore feeling that none of it truly mattered until we fundamentally began to recognize our interdependency with our environments and with each other.
Systems can be replaced, but that in and of itself would do little good if the new systems emerged from the same space of awareness, and especially if they stemmed from anger and accusatory sentiments of right vs wrong.
I asked myself, “Would new systems really solve our problems if we still have yet to learn how to communicate with patience, empathy, and respect for one another? How much progress can we really make if we are continuing to operate from a framework of separation, rather than from the recognition of the common ground in our shared humanity?”
The systemic issues we face are undoubtedly significant. However, they are symptoms, and while applying band-aids to wounds helps, we would be better served by going straight to the root.
To me, Junto can be one of the ways in which we nurture a stronger foundation to begin creating solutions that are both sustainable and in harmony with our collective well being. Just as social media can be designed to work against our psychology, it can be designed to expand our worldview, strengthen our relationships, and encourage self and mutual accountability.
I believe that Junto can help facilitate a cultural shift towards authenticity, self-acceptance, and compassion. And that by transforming the prevalent norms of egocentrism, social comparison, and divisive narratives, we can begin to create better systems that work for all us.
I acknowledge that everything has its place in the world. I simply want to suggest building solutions, especially those that can help us evolve how we relate to one another, as a peaceful way to build our trust in each other, take responsibility for ourselves, and support one another without giving our power away.
We can only make this happen by working together. I invite you all to help carry Junto past this important milestone so we can continue to protect and strengthen how we communicate with each other.
With gratitude,
Eric