Life Guild

Introduction

This living document outlines a new kind of affiliative pattern between humans. It is a pattern that is already emerging across different geographic and cultural locations, and which the authors have been exploring for several years and actively trialling for the last two. Our intention in sharing a description now, and giving it a provisional name, is to encourage further formation and increase the likelihood of coherence between groups, preparing the ground for future collaboration.

Admittedly, the rough shape of this pattern is very old — there have been self-organising guilds, lodges, chapters, cells, orders and fraternities for hundreds if not thousands of years, many of which are worthy of study. However, the particular conditions we find ourselves in now are unique, and require novel responses and specific blends of ideas and practices that enable skillful action.

It is therefore important to sketch out not just the broad pattern, but also propose specific details that we think characterise its most promising manifestations. Calling these manifestations something new — Life Guilds — helps to distinguish them from the broader pattern and aids discernment in their development. Far from being authoritative, we offer this concept in the spirit of mutual inquiry.

Why ‘guild’?

A guild is simply an organised group of people who share a common interest, profession or craft and come together for mutual benefit. Historically, guilds played key roles in economic, social and political affairs. For those in the 21st Century with a committed aspiration towards societal and ecological transition based on emerging cultural paradigms, the mutual benefit of a Life Guild includes support for each other’s development, ideation and real-world impact. Populated by those with a track record of meaningful work in related fields, Life Guilds may form around specific activities, from personal growth to political organising. They are essentially communities of practice that marry inner and outer transformation.

What we have been living in the last twenty-five years is the beginning of a new dark age… In an illuminated age, although nothing is certain, there is a sense of direction into the future and a kind of path – more than a path, a kind of a Roman road, if not an autoroute! … In a dark age, there is no such road. There are only paths. Paths that have to be discovered and walked along by individuals, by groups of individuals, by groups coming together.

— John Berger

Who joins a Life Guild?

Whatever the group’s focus, Guild Members are committed to fostering community and further refining their inner and relational capacities in the process. They have sufficient insight into group dynamics and collective action that they are willing to prioritise shared culture over personal whims and comforts when it serves the greater good. Guild Members want to meet regularly to practise collective sense-making, share contemplative and psycho-social development praxis and strengthen social bonds. In the service of societal transition, they are as dedicated to the mastering skills of heart, mind and relationship as much as the technical skills of their professional domain.

How do Life Guilds form and grow?

The authors of this text have formed a small group that has been meeting regularly for about a year with the intention of mutual support and a shared endeavour. We have been exploring the way we imagine a Life Guild might function, with those explorations ultimately resulting in this concept note. We are planning to slowly grow the group as we identify friends and colleagues who are interested in joining us, and who would be the right fit at this particular time with our existing mix of members and current activity focus (which is to further develop and test the Life Guild concept).

We encourage others who resonate with this idea to form their own Life Guild by adopting and evolving the template below. We envisage that in the future, if this mode of organising takes root, there may be many such guilds in existence. Our hope is these groups will have enough similarities in their values, intentions and practices that in the future they can associate, support each other, exchange ideas and collaborate closely. In order to make this more likely, in the section below we propose a small number of characteristics that we expect need to be adopted to ensure sufficient alignment, along with some characteristics that are purely recommendations.

One such essential characteristic is that the growth of Life Guilds should be restricted in terms of both rate and maximum size. A group culture predicated on maintaining deep intimacy between accomplished peers would require new members to be carefully selected and introduced sensitively, whilst being capped at a size beyond which direct relationships between all members is not possible. Although potentially very helpful in other ways, a group that has a looser entry policy could quickly grow into the thousands and would not hold the same kind of affiliative force. The more fundamentally different the nature of these groups are, the more difficult and less valuable future association is likely to be.

What are the essential characteristics of a Life Guild?

In order to leave open the possibility of widespread collaboration between Life Guilds as we are imagining them, these are a few of the characteristics that we consider essential:

1. Membership criteria: There is some kind of explicit agreement between founders or existing members about the criteria for new members. These criteria must include these three elements:

   1. Ethos: Displaying a deep commitment to personal growth, transformation, and contemplative perspective.
   2. Logos: Has a good grasp of:
      1. Narratives exploring the ‘metacrisis behind the polycrisis’, e.g. disconnection.
      2. Emerging post-post-modern philosophies, e.g. metamodernism;
      3. Theories of longer-term renewal and regeneration, e.g. Second Renaissance;
      4. Integrating inner and outer transformation, e.g. awareness-based systems change.
   3. Praxis: Dedicating their lives to societal transition and on the path of mastering necessary skills or taking practical action. Skills must specifically include rigorous contemplative practice.

2. Maximum group size: for reasons discussed above, we propose that there be a limit on guild size. This could be up for discussion, but for now we’re assuming that a hard limit should be in the region of 100-150, and that in practice groups will naturally find their own ceiling with fewer than 50 members.

3. Regular cadence of meetings: an explicit agreement for how regularly meetings will take place and in which form.

What are the recommended characteristics of a Life Guild?

• Membership growth rate limit: we suggest a maximum group increase of 10-30% per year, or between major gatherings, depending on existing guild size. We expect that the larger the guild, the lower the ideal growth rate to ensure skillful on-boarding and enculturation.
• Discernment regarding inner work: A membership criteria that is specific about what types of personal growth and transformation are desirable. For instance, some form of trauma-healing or shadow work may be non-negotiable for the group.
• Separate meetings for relationship-building and collaboration: we would recommend having a regular cadence of relationship-building and mutual support meetings, in addition to meetings regarding productive activity undertaken by the guild.
• Baked-in evolution: A continual, collective reflection and interrogation of the guild’s activity and framing, updating language to be the most accurate, culturally appropriate and contextual.