🗞️ Microsolidarity Network August Update: Summer Camp Reflections & more

Don’t cry because it’s over… smile because you stretched your hosting capacity 🌿☀️

The Microsolidarity network has typically excelled at creating belonging - groups in which everyone feels genuinely welcome and valued. But this year’s summer camp asked: what’s this good for? We decided to use our sense of belonging as a launchpad for each other’s development, creating an encouraging context for participants to stretch beyond their comfort zones and “level up” their hosting skills. Why? Because a confident host knows how to take responsibility for shaping their social context in service of their community and the world around them.

Beyond the usual opportunity to host breakout sessions during Open Space, this year participants were invited to host pieces of the week's agenda for the whole group, with support and coaching from lead hosts. This ambitious experiment, involving much hermit crabbing*, proved both challenging and deeply rewarding. We all came away with a rich and abundant harvest of insights, expanded skills, and deepened friendships which you'll discover in the Community Highlights below.

*the art of passing on a role you've mastered to someone ready to grow into it, named after hermit crab processions 🦀🐚

Community Highlights

🪶 ‘Journey to Gathering’ by Michael Tong
Ever noticed how some conversations spark to life while others fall flat? At Summer Camp, Michael noticed that the secret might be simpler than we think: leading with curiosity rather than answers. In his blog, he shares how this shift is transforming his approach to leading from the heart and unlocking the "available aliveness" in any gathering.

The central research question for this year’s gathering, which acted as a focal point to align our diverse interests, activities and inquiries

🎧 ‘More than the hum of its parts’ a conversation on music and community
During Summer Camp Doro, Frederick and Pietro were curious about how to invite self-proclaimed ‘non-musicians’ into a collaborative music-making experiment, and embrace the ‘cringe’ of making mistakes as a gateway to growth and creativity.

In this 20-minute podcast, Francis captures some of their discoveries - including the secret sauce of establishing rhythms - revealing powerful parallels between making music together and building communities where everyone can show up fully while staying in sync.

✨ ‘Channeling as a Creative Practice’ by Agota Dubi
Agota has written about what happens when we create spaces for people to step into their gifts. In her reflections she captures something profound about "The Channel" - a state of flow where hosting happens through us rather than by us - and the art of dancing between structure and freedom to unlock what truly wants to emerge in any gathering.

Jocelyn’s harvest of Agota’s session

🌿 Tereza Bird beautifully captured the surrounding Montnegre National Park in her photos and drawings this week. We got out there as much as we could, also for some sessions including an Ecstatic Forest Oracle Dance led by Ondrej, a cleanup action initiated by Rich, a Grief Walk offered by Katharina and Doro’s women’s “Swamping” session to welcome the more non-verbal parts of us after a busy day of talking.

Some of us really enjoyed making the most of the neighbouring Montnegre National Park - and had fun cleaning it up!

Upcoming Events

🤙 September Network Call: Summer Camp Debrief
4th September 2025 - 19:30 - 21:00 CET / 10:30 - 12:00 PDT

What did we learn when we spent one week asking ourselves the question: “What does it take to become the kind of person who brings out the best of any group?”
Join this year’s summer camp participants as we collectively harvest our experiences, learn and celebrate, while infusing the network with the energy and enthusiasm from our fantastic time together at Casa Tilo.

Register on Open Collective for €3/month and you’ll receive a calendar invite with the Zoom link for these calls.

🌱 Resiliency Circles with Bihter
Starts September 1st!
If you attended this month’s network call, you probably had the pleasure of being hosted by Bihter in a Resiliency Circle. This is a great skill building practice for anyone hosting or facilitating groups, or wanting to become the kind of person who makes a group experience better. She’ll be running a 12-week cohort every Monday from September 1st to November 24th - 18.30-20.00 CET, 09.30-11.00am Arizona.
👉 check it out and register here!

🕸️ Catherine Tran is sharing two beautiful opportunities that embody the essence of what we explore in Microsolidarity - creating intimate containers for deep connection and collective flourishing:

Second Renaissance Festival 5-7 September: This gathering is for those who wish to envision a better world - a weekend of music, ideas and interbeing, co-created by all who come. This first-year festival is a small experiment with just 20-30 people — to create an intimate, close-knit container. Expect weird and wonderful workshops, heartfelt rituals, music and dance - a meeting of hearts and minds as we play our way into depth and connection.

Life Itself Autumn Praxis Residency: What does it mean to live well, together? How can our ways of being transform the world? Join us for the third Autumn Praxis Residency at the Life Itself Riverside Hub in Bergerac, France: a 2.5-month-long conscious co-living container for contemplative, relational, and embodied practice in community. You can join for a week, a month, or the full residency. Last few places available – so apply now! :)

Resources

🖋️An essay "On Forgiveness and Grace" by Johnson Hsieh
Johnson shares: “This is an essay about forgiveness and repair, a critical aspect of relationships and community. I’ve followed the thread pretty extensively and wanted to share my findings.”
Johnson has been deeply exploring his journey of repair and forgiveness for many years, and sharing his reflections has inspired many others in our network to look at their own relationships and healing—read his thoughtful essay here and share your thoughts in the comments.

Get involved!

👋 Stay Connected
Join the Telegram group

Looking for ways to keep the Microsolidarity connections flowing? Our Telegram channel is where our community stays active between gatherings — crew invitations, local meetups, peer support, and the ongoing conversations that keep us linked.

Jump in, say hello, and see what's happening.
👉 Join here and check the pinned Welcome Message to introduce yourself.

✏️ Share what's alive for you
Got something Microsolidarity-related to share with the network? An invitation, reflection, update, or creative piece?

Submit here by September 24th, or reach out with questions at microsolidarity@gmail.com.

That’s all for this issue! See you next time!
Jocelyn & Gui

Know someone who’d love these updates? Feel free to pass along the link to subscribe 👉 microsolidarity.substack.com/